To what extent has the Welsh Government tailored the rollout of improved Welsh education to the specific needs of local areas in Wales?
I have approved all local authorities’ 10-year Welsh in Education Strategic Plans (WESPs). These have been operational since September 2022. WESPs set out local authorities’ targets for improving the planning of education through the medium of Welsh. I have been clear that all local authorities’ contributions to Cymraeg 2050 must reflect local and national priorities for Cymraeg. Our methodology for calculating individual targets for local authorities was based on a recognition that the baseline for each authority would be different. I am satisfied that the WESPs currently in place reflect that.
We have allocated funding to reflect WESP commitments. For example, as well as investment through the Sustainable Communities for Learning capital Programme, we have invested over £112m in dedicated Welsh-medium capital grants since 2018. Furthermore, we will require local authorities to submit a 9-year investment plan by March 2024 to reflect a more flexible approach to funding that is more responsive to local needs. We will assess against the approved WESP to ensure they deliver the capacity to meet local targets.
I have committed £6.6m until the end of this Senedd term to support the establishment of late immersion provision across all local authorities in Wales. How these provisions are delivered will inevitably vary as local authorities respond to the different needs of their different communities.
We must acknowledge the workforce challenges we have here. Recruitment is a global issue and not one only being faced in Wales. When we published the Welsh in Education Workforce Plan last year, we ensured the Plan supported local authority WESPs. In my Oral Statement of 25 April this year, I outlined the progress we and our partners have made in implementing the plan during its first year, including additional funding towards a retention bursary for secondary teachers teaching Welsh or through the medium of Welsh and support for primary teachers to convert to teaching in secondary schools.