Alun Davies AM Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language

28 July 2016

 

Dear Alun,

Welsh Government Draft Budget

I would like to invite you to attend a meeting of the Committee on Wednesday 2 November 2016 to give evidence in connection with the Welsh Government’s draft budget 2017-18.

The evidence session is scheduled for an hour, beginning at 11.00am.  The meeting will be held in Committee Room 3 at the National Assembly for Wales, Cardiff Bay.  It would be helpful if you could provide the Committee with a bilingual paper in relation to the draft budget by 12 October 2016.  The Committee would be particularly grateful to receive information on the budgetary matters highlighted in the annex to this letter.

Yours sincerely

 

Bethan Jenkins AC / AM

Cadeirydd / Chair

 

Annex

 

Request for information from the Minister for Lifelong Learning and Welsh Language for the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee scrutiny of the Draft Budget 2017-18

 

Scrutiny of the Draft Budget in relation to the Welsh language

Specific funding allocations for the Welsh language in the draft budget fall within the Education and Skills Main Expenditure Group. We would like to invite you, as Minister for Life Long Learning and Welsh Language, to appear before the Committee to discuss the 2017-18 draft budget in this regard.

As well as scrutinising the allocations in the draft budget that are specifically to promote the Welsh language, the Committee intends to look at how the Welsh Government has assessed the impact of draft budget allocations on the language more widely.

As such, the Committee would be grateful to receive the following information by way of written evidence.

Presentation of the budget

The Finance Committee has welcomed the improvements made to the presentation of the budget in recent years, and recommended that work should continue to further improve the transparency of how the budget allocations are aligned to the Welsh Government priorities and commitments.

As was the case last year, the Committee would like to be provided with the individual Budget Expenditure Lines for your portfolio which are relevant to this Committee.

We should note that we are aware that the Children, Young People and Education Committee has requested information from the Cabinet Secretary for Education on  budget provision to support the implementation of the Welsh Government’s Welsh-medium Education Strategy and local authorities’ Welsh in Education Strategic Plans (WESPs). However, to aid transparency, we would also welcome this information in order to be provided with some context in terms of how funding to promote the Welsh language has been allocated as a whole.

Welsh Government priorities and commitments

With regard to the Welsh Government’s priorities and commitments, the Committee would appreciate the following information:


Key policies

The Committee would particularly like to receive information on:

·         how Draft Budget allocations relate to the delivery of the A Living Language: A Language for Living strategy and the updated Bwrw Mlaen document, including information on how the allocations for 2017-18 link with those strategies in terms of targets, outcomes achieved to date and intended outcomes in the future;

·         the extent to which you are able to determine how much funding is used to support, promote or protect the Welsh language across all portfolios (including in budgets not directly linked to the Welsh language), and  what progress has been made by the Welsh Government in being able to provide this information;

·         how Draft Budget allocations have been influenced by the continued implementation of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, including funding allocations for the Welsh Language Commissioner and the basis on which these have been decided;

·         how Draft Budget allocations relate to the delivery of the Welsh Medium Education Strategy, including information on how this links with targets, outcomes achieved to date and intended outcomes.