Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport and International Relations Committee
Evidence paper on Draft Budget 2024-25 – Welsh Language budgets within the Education and Welsh Language Main Expenditure Group
11 January 2024 (9.30-11.00)
This paper provides information to the Culture, Communications, Welsh Language, Sport and International Relations (CCWLSIR) Committee on budget allocations relevant to the Welsh language in the Education and Welsh Language Main Expenditure Group (MEG) proposals outlined in the draft Budget 2024-25, published on 19 December 2023. It also provides an update on specific areas of interest to the Committee.
1. Commentary on Actions and detail of Budget Expenditure Line (BEL) allocations
1.1 When we published our 2022 multi-year Welsh Spending Review, we set out ambitious plans for increasing the number of Welsh speakers and doubling daily use of the language. Budgets initially set for the three-year period reflected an increase to Welsh language budgets [1]of £5.8m (15.4%) in 2022-23, with further increases of £3m (6.9%) in 2023-24 and £3.5m (7.5%) in 2024-25 specifically linked to the Co-operation Agreement. In last year’s budget we maintained that funding and provided a revenue increase for the Welsh Language Commissioner of £0.15m from 2023-24.
1.2 The stark reality of the extraordinary financial circumstances we are facing has necessitated a more fundamental approach. We have re-shaped the indicative spending allocations within our budget to provide extra funding and protection for the services which matter most to people and communities across Wales – the NHS and the core local government settlement, which funds schools, social services and social care and other everyday services. This has resulted in the reprioritisation of just under £103m (5.68%) from the Education and Welsh Language budget.
1.3 We have worked hard to limit the impacts on funding for the Welsh language, including maintaining funding linked to the Welsh Language Education Bill, Mudiad Meithrin and the Welsh in Education budget. The impact of the reprioritisation exercise on Welsh language budgets has resulted in the return of £3.668m to reserves. While we are reprioritising £3.5m from funding linked to Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and the National Centre for Learning Welsh, we are maintaining budgets at 2023-24 levels to cause the least disruption to the Welsh language sector. This funding will be reprofiled and considered in the context of the mechanisms being developed for ongoing financial commitments under the Co-operation Agreement, as set out in chapter 1 of the main draft budget narrative. A cross-government decision has resulted in a 5% budget reduction for the four statutory Commissioners, including £0.168m for the Welsh Language Commissioner (see section 3.2).
1.4 The table below summarises the changes to Welsh language budgets for 2024-25.
|
Action |
£000s |
||||||
|
BEL |
2024-25 |
2024-25 |
2024-25 |
2024-25 |
2024-25 |
||
|
£000s |
|||||||
|
Pre-16 Education Support via LA's |
Cymraeg 2050 (LAEG) |
0 |
0 |
9,770 |
0 |
9,770 |
|
|
Total Pre-16 Education Support via LA's |
0 |
0 |
9,770 |
0 |
9,770 |
||
|
Welsh in Education |
Welsh in Education |
24,275 |
-3,500 |
-2,200 |
-1,675 |
16,900 |
|
|
Total Welsh in Education |
24,275 |
-3,500 |
-2,200 |
-1,675 |
16,900 |
||
|
Welsh Language |
Welsh Language |
22,404 |
0 |
-500 |
1,675 |
23,579 |
|
|
Welsh
Language |
3,357 |
-168 |
0 |
0 |
3,189 |
||
|
Welsh Language Commissioner - Non Cash |
121 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
121 |
||
|
Total Welsh Language |
25,882 |
-168 |
-500 |
1,675 |
26,889 |
||
|
Total Welsh Language Resource Budgets |
50,157 |
-3,668 |
7,070 |
0 |
53,559 |
||
|
Welsh Language |
Welsh Language Commissioner - Non Cash |
50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
50 |
|
|
Total Welsh Language |
50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
50 |
||
|
Total Welsh Language Capital Budgets |
50 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
50 |
||
|
Total Welsh Language Budgets |
50,207 |
-3,668 |
7,070 |
0 |
53,609 |
||
1.5 As part of the Programme for Government, we have committed to reducing the administrative burden on local authorities, to allow them to focus on their vitally important work delivering front line services. Therefore, in this budget we propose a new approach for pre-16 education grant funding, to ensure that local authorities and schools are not hampered by unnecessary bureaucracy. From 2024-25, we are proposing to amalgamate local authority and consortia grants, including Welsh language grants, into one grant scheme called the Local Authority Education Grant (LAEG). This grant scheme will be made up of four elements of education funding, including Cymraeg 2050 (others being School Standards, Equity and Reform).
1.6 This funding will be crucial to the delivery of the forthcoming Welsh Language Education Bill. The new Cymraeg 2050 (LAEG) BEL will provide funding of £9.77m through the LAEG, combining funding for the Welsh in Education Grant (School Improvement Grant BEL), Professional Learning (Teacher Development and Support BEL), late immersion provision (Welsh in Education BEL) and the Siarter Iaith (Welsh Language BEL).
1.7 Incorporating these changes, the total indicative budget to support the Welsh Language stands at £53.6m in 2024-25 – £53.559m resource and £0.05m capital (excluding Welsh Medium Education Capital funded via the Education Infrastructure BEL – further information is provided in section 3.3).
1.8 As requested by the Committee, a detailed breakdown of 2024-25 draft budget allocations (as relevant to the Welsh language), final outturn for 2022-23, together with forecast outturn for 2023-24, is attached at Annex A. This confirms the final outturn for Welsh language budgets (Welsh Language, Welsh in Education and Welsh Language Commissioner BELs) in 2022-23 was £44.937m (£44.695m resource and £0.242m capital) and the forecast outturn (as at period 7) for 2023-24 is £48.643m (£48.593m resource and £0.05m capital).
1.9 It is important to note that the aim is to mainstream Cymraeg 2050 into all Welsh Government portfolio areas and there is already expenditure on the language embedded in delivery within many other ministerial portfolios. However further detail is provided below on the specific Budget Expenditure Lines (BELs) within the Education and Welsh Language MEG that directly support delivery of the Welsh language portfolio.
Welsh Language BEL
1.10 The purpose of the Welsh language BEL is to support the delivery of Cymraeg 2050 in relation to increasing the use of Welsh and securing the right infrastructure. The indicative budget for the Welsh Language BEL is £23.579m in 2024-25. This budget reflects the transfer of £0.5m for Siarter Iaith to the Cymraeg 2050 (LAEG) BEL and the transfer in of £1.675m from the Welsh in Education BEL in respect of funding allocated via the Co-operation Agreement for the National Centre for Learning Welsh.
1.11 In 2022-23, an additional £1.2m was allocated to the Urdd as continued support for the rebuilding of their services following the Covid-19 pandemic. The funding was baselined into 2023-24 and the intention is to allocate the same amount for 2024-25. It takes the total funding for the Urdd to over £2.2m per annum. Further detail on this funding is set out under section 3.1.
1.12 The National Eisteddfod was allocated a further £0.3m per annum in 2022-23 to support the organisation’s post Covid-19 recovery. This funding was also baselined into 2023-24 and we propose the same for 2024-25 resulting in the Eisteddfod Genedlaethol’s grantincreasing to £1m per annum moving forward.
1.13 As part of the Co-operation Agreement, and through existing budgets, we are investing £1m revenue by the end of 2024-25 in Carmarthenshire and the former industrial heartland areas of the Western Valleys. We’re doing this in response to the results of the 2021 Census in relation to the Welsh language. It will support us to better understand the results and enable us to pilot interventions in response to those results.
1.14 The remaining budget has been maintained in 2024-25 to support partnership activities including:
· Cymraeg i Blant (Cymraeg for Kids) – to support parents, prospective parents and other family members in using Welsh at home, transmit Welsh to their children, and to support children’s linguistic development in a social and educational context;
· delivering Welsh language training through the National Centre for Learning Welsh;
· the Siarter Iaith which supports and promotes the informal use of Welsh amongst school-age children, with £0.5m of this budget transferring to the LAEG;
· delivering the Welsh Language Technology Action Plan;
· increasing the use of Welsh, through grants to a number of key partners including: the network of Mentrau Iaith, the network of Papurau Bro (Welsh-medium community newspapers); Merched y Wawr; Cymdeithas Eisteddfodau Cymru; Cymdeithas Cyfieithwyr Cymru; and the Young Farmers Clubs Movement;
· the Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan; and
· research, evaluation and marketing in respect of the strategy.
Welsh Language Commissioner BEL
1.15 This budget supports the Welsh Language Commissioner, with further detail on the Commissioner’s budget provided in section 3.2.
Welsh in Education BEL
1.16
The indicative budget
for the Welsh in Education BEL is £16.9m in 2024-25. This
budget reflects the reprioritisation of Co-operation Agreement
funding of £3.5m to reserves (see para 1.3), the transfer out
of £1.675m to the Welsh Language BEL for the element of
funding relating to the Co-operation Agreement for the National
Centre for Learning Welsh, and the transfer out of £2.2m to
the Cymraeg 2050 (LAEG) BEL to expand Welsh immersion provision as
a result of grant amalgamation.
1.17
As part of our
Co-operation Agreement, the remaining funding within the BEL of
£2.825m in 2024-25 will support the Coleg Cymraeg
Cenedlaethol.
1.18 The Welsh in Education BEL also supports actions related to Welsh-medium and Welsh language education within Cymraeg 2050, including:
· funding for Mudiad Meithrin to increase Welsh-medium childcare provision as a pathway into Welsh-medium education;
· continuation of funding for the e-sgol programme of £0.6m per annum following an increase in funding from 2022-23 onwards;
· the implementation of the 10-year Welsh in Education Strategic Plans (WESPs) in line with the Welsh in Education Strategic Plans Regulations 2019, which came into force on 1 January 2020; and
· commissioning of bilingual teaching and learning resources in support of the curriculum and its qualifications, including funding for Adnodd, a Welsh Government subsidiary company which became operational on 1 April 2023.
Cymraeg 2050 (LAEG) BEL
1.19
The indicative budget
for this new BEL stands at £9.77m for 2024-25
(paragraphs 1.5-1.6 refer). The amalgamation of the grants will
provide local authorities with a stronger overarching and strategic
look of how they can embed Welsh in education policy within their
work. This will ensure that local authorities have the autonomy and
resources to deliver on their WESPs, and distribute the funding
provided to support their own local education and linguistic
contexts.
1.20 Officials will work closely together to devise specific grant guidelines and requirements for the work associated with the Welsh in education funding. The funding allocations for each local authority will align with pre-existing structures that are in place for delivering, reporting, and monitoring of the local authorities’ WESPs. Further alignment between the funding provided to local authorities and the WESPs can only strengthen Welsh-medium provision moving forward.
2. Other Information
Information on how the delivery of the Welsh Language portfolio and associated outcomes are monitored and evaluated to demonstrate value for money.
2.1 In terms of ensuring value for money, clarity over how we use our resources effectively is central to delivering the priorities set out in Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers, the Programme for Government and the Co-operation Agreement. We have well-established processes in place to ensure that resources are used effectively for the purposes intended.
2.2 Progress against the Cymraeg 2050 Work Programme for 2021 to 2026 is monitored annually through a process which includes the publication of an annual Action Plan at the beginning of the financial year, followed by an Annual Report at the year end to report back on the actions detailed in the Action Plan. Regular reviews to monitor expenditure and outcomes are undertaken to ensure that any available resources are reprioritised to deliver the strategy.
2.3 The Welsh Language Partnership Council plays a role in advising on progress towards the 2050 targets and the efficacy of our programmes and interventions. The Cymraeg 2050 Programme Board within the Welsh Government is tasked with assessing risks and identifying steps to mitigate them and mainstreams the strategy in each of the Government’s policy areas.
2.4 We have undertaken a review of the Grant Scheme to Promote and Facilitate the Use of the Welsh Language. The aim of the review was to assess how the current Scheme has been designed and implemented, and inform our planning of a future funding model to support the future use of the Welsh language. We will build our response to the Review’s recommendations into a new grants scheme to support Cymraeg 2050.
2.5 In November 2022 we published a Research and Evaluation Framework for Cymraeg 2050. It provides guidance on collecting evidence and data, assessing progress, and evaluating the impact of the strategy as it continues to be implemented. This Framework will provide a basis for the Welsh Government’s programme of research and evaluation in relation to the strategy over the coming years.
2.6 Furthermore, our target of increasing Welsh language early years provision by 150 nursery groups by 2028 has the potential to reduce spend on promotion among older age groups, as they help individuals establish robust language practices at an early age. In this respect, Cylchoedd Meithrin contribute to nurturing the conditions which create new Welsh speakers by immersing children in the language and its culture, and by helping to feed Welsh-medium schools. This spend on the early years prepares the ground for further interventions in the shape of, for instance, the Siarter Iaith (which has the aim of encouraging informal Welsh language use among school children from an early age).
2.7 Our Welsh Language Technology Action Plan involves ensuring Welsh language digital components are created and maintained so that they can be freely used and reused under a suitably permissive licence by all. The spread of Welsh language technology is also essential for the normalisation of the Welsh language and enabling people to use it in their day to day lives. We launched the Plan on 23/10/2018 and we’re currently preparing to develop the next plan.
2.8 We are committed to using the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 to improve how we make decisions about the social, economic, environmental and cultural well-being of Wales. Our goal is to ensure we reflect the sustainable development principle and our spending plans aim to achieve a balance between short and long-term priorities.
Information on allocations (and their location) in your portfolio to support Cymraeg 2050 Welsh language strategy, in particular, allocations to achieve the ‘milestones’ as set out in the Work Programme 2021-2026
2.9 Since launching Cymraeg 2050, we have been working towards a series of milestones to achieve our targets of a million Welsh speakers and doubling daily use of Welsh by 2050. We follow a trajectory that was developed based on the 2011 Census. At the outset, we committed to pause once we had the 2021 Census results in order to take stock and review our work plans and the trajectory to reach a million Welsh speakers as necessary. We are now considering the Census data alongside other sources of information for example the Annual Population Survey to ensure that we remain on track with our aim of doubling the daily use of our language and reaching a million Welsh speakers by 2050. Set out below is our progress against the high level milestones.
Milestone:maintain language transmission rates in families with the aim of seeing a gradual increase along the way up to 2050
2.10 To support this aim, we will continue to invest in the Cymraeg for Kids programme during 2024-25 with funding of £0.73m being maintained. The objectives of the programme are to support parents, prospective parents and other family members in introducing and using Welsh at home and transmitting Welsh to their children, and to support children’s linguistic development in a social and educational context. This is achieved through a series of free sessions for parents and their children, a network of officers support families to introduce and use Welsh at home, transmit Welsh to their children, and support childre’'s linguistic, social and educational development. Face-to-face sessions now run alongside virtual sessions introduced during the pandemic.
2.11 Cymraeg for Kids supports our national policy on Welsh language transmission and use in families. Encouraging families to choose and use Welsh is an important part of Cymraeg 2050 and this policy outlines how we plan to make sure parents and carers are given the best possible support and encouragement to choose to use Welsh with their children. Our Welsh language transmission and use in families policy works in collaboration with Cymraeg i Blant.
Milestone: Increasing language use
2.12 Another important target within Cymraeg 2050 is to empower speakers to use their Welsh with the aim of doubling the percentage of us who use more than a few words of Cymraeg every day by 2050. With this important aim in mind, all of the interventions in the Cymraeg 2050 portfolio, and therefore all corresponding budget allocations, ultimately have the aim of increasing the use of the language, and are evaluated and monitored to ensure that they are fit for this purpose. This is true of both the Welsh Language and Welsh Language Commissioner BELs. Under the Memorandum of Understanding between the Welsh Government and the Welsh Language Commissioner, as well as regulating the standards, the Commissioner has the role of increasing use of the language through working with bodies to improve and increase the use of their Welsh language services.
2.13 Supporting the Welsh language as a thriving community language is central to the Welsh Language Communities Housing Plan (WLCHP). A key theme of the WLCHP is to empower communities to take responsibility for the long term sustainability of the Welsh language. The Perthyn project supports community organisations to set up or expand social enterprises and community led co-operative housing. Perthyn, which is delivered by Cwmpas has two elements – the first provides a bespoke support and advice service to community groups and secondly a small grant to encourage community empowerment and capacity building. A total of £0.465m has been allocated for the WLCHP for 2024-25. In August 2022, we launched the Commission for Welsh-speaking Communities, the Commission will initially concentrate on the future of Welsh as a community language in Welsh-speaking communities. In June 2023, the Commission published a position paper outlining their initial findings with the final report due to follow during the summer of 2024.
2.14 The Siarter Iaith supports and promotes the informal use of Welsh amongst school-age young people. We have maintained funding of £0.713m for the programme in 2024-25. Of this allocation, £0.5m is transferring to the new Cymraeg 2050 (LAEG) BEL for local authorities to work with schools to deliver the programme and £0.138m will be allocated to the Urdd to deliver other elements of the programme. The remainder funds national activities such as the publication of the Seren a Sbarc books, other resources and funding to support Bardd Plant Cymru (Welsh-language Children’s Laureat).
Milestone: Aim to support the expansion of Welsh language early years by 60 new groups by 2026
2.16 Through this work, 43 new groups were established over the first 3 years of the programme up to 2021. The target of establishing a further 60 groups during the current Senedd term is continuing with additional funding provided during 2022-23 and 2023-24 allowing for Mudiad Meithrin to exceed their annual targets. This budget will be maintained in 2024-25 and Mudiad Meithrin will continue to build early years capacity to provide a path into Welsh-medium education.
2.17 Closely allied to the programme of expanding provision is the Programme for Government and Co-operation Agreement commitment to deliver a phased expansion of early years provision to include all 2 year olds, with a particular emphasis on strengthening Welsh-medium provision. It is expected that the SAS programme and the expansion of Flying Start (funded through the Health and Social Services MEG) will work closely and contribute to each other’s targets.
Milestone: Increase the percentage of year 1 learners taught in Welsh from 23% (2020 to 2021) to 26% in 2026.
2.18 One of the key aims of Cymraeg 2050 is to increase the number of learners studying through the medium of Welsh. The most recent PLASC data (2023), published in September shows a small percentage decrease in Year 1 learners studying through the medium of Welsh, decreasing from 23.9% in 2022 to 23.4% in 2023. In the Cymraeg 2050 Work Programme for 2021-26, we have committed to increase the percentage of Year 1 learners taught in Welsh to 26% by 2026. Work in this policy areas includes a number of different streams.
2.19 We will continue to allocate funding of £0.1m from the Welsh in Education BEL to support central work on the WESPs. All local authorities in Wales implemented their 10-year WESPs in September 2022 and submitted their annual WESP review reports in July 2023 outlining progress made against their targets within the first year of their Plans. The WESP annual review reports have been assessed and feedback has been provided to each local authority. Whilst the increase in the number and percentage of learners varies across Wales, the first annual review reports show us that decisive action has been taken by the majority of local authorities to lay firm foundations for progress during the lifespan of the WESPs.
2.20 Our efforts in 2024-25 will concentrate on continuing to support local authorities to implement their 10-year WESPs. This will include:
2.21 Local authorities will continue to use funding from other sources to implement their WESPs, for example through the Sustainable Communities for Learning capital programme, Early Years and Childcare capital grant, and the Revenue Support Grant (RSG). Specific Welsh language funding such as the Welsh-medium Capital grant and Welsh-medium Late Immersion Grant will continue to support and deliver activities directly supporting the implementation of WESPs.
2.22 Late immersion continues to play an important part in our work to increase the percentage of learners who attend Welsh-medium education. The Cymraeg 2050 Work Programme for 2021-26, and the Programme for Government, include our commitment to expand the Late Immersion Programme to ensure that every newcomer to the language has access to a Welsh-medium education when they need it and wherever they are on their learning journey. Further detail on this funding is set out under section 3.1.
2.23 We have made a commitment to introduce a Welsh Education Bill during the term of this Senedd. The purpose of the Bill is to strengthen and increase our Welsh language education provision to meet the challenges set out in Cymraeg 2050. The new Cymraeg 2050 (LAEG) BEL brings together local authority funding for the Welsh language, supporting delivery of the forthcoming Bill.
Milestone: support growth in the number of teachers in Wales who can teach Welsh or teach through the medium of Welsh by 2031.
2.24 Funding is available within the Teacher Development and Support BEL to support the implementation of our Welsh in Education Workforce Plan. The total funding available in 2024-25 is £8.15m with a further £2.57m transferred into the new Cymraeg 2050 (LAEG) BEL.
2.25 Approximately £4.3m will be prioritised to support the aims of the plan and will be mainly targeted at increasing the number of Welsh-medium teachers. Funding will be prioritised for the following activities:
· continuation of the primary to secondary conversion programme;
· continuation of the grants to schools to develop innovative solutions to addressing teacher shortages;
· funding to support the viability of Welsh A Level provision in schools and FE Colleges;
· the second year of the teacher retention bursary; and
· funding for CYDAG to support collaboration across Welsh-medium schools in a number of policy areas.
2.26 The Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol will continue to allocate £0.150m from their grant, which is funded from the Welsh in Education BEL, in 2024-25 to develop two specific projects:
· pilot a financial scholarship and mentoring for undergraduate learners to support them to prepare for ITE through the medium of Welsh; and
· develop networks to engage with Welsh-speaking graduates studying in England and promote opportunities for them to return to Wales to prepare to teach.
2.27 We continue to provide incentives for student teachers from Wales undertaking ITE and have maintained the Iaith Athrawon Yfory incentive of £5,000 for each student who is preparing to teach secondary subjects through the medium of Welsh. This is funded from the ITE budget lines within the Teacher Development and Support BEL.
2.28 Professional learning is a key feature of our approach to strengthening Welsh-medium teaching capacity and supporting practitioners to develop their Welsh language skills in accordance with the Professional Standards for Teaching and Leadership. We are working with regional consortia and local authorities to ensure that practitioners are identified and supported to engage with professional learning in order to improve the teaching of Welsh in English-medium schools and to support all schools to move along a continuum.
2.29 Approximately £3.8m will be allocated within the Teacher Development and Support BEL in 2024-25 to the Sabbatical Scheme to deliver intensive Welsh language and language teaching methodology professional learning for practitioners. Courses are available on a range of levels for teaching assistants and teachers. The majority of this budget funds the supply costs related with releasing practitioners from schools to undertake the courses. This has increased for 2024-25 to account for the higher cost of paying for supply cover to enable practitioners to engage with the courses.
2.30 Funding allocated to the National Centre for Learning Welsh also delivers access to free Welsh language lessons to all education practitioners. A website was launched in July 2022 to provide information to practitioners about the provision available to them via the Sabbatical Scheme and the National Centre for Learning Welsh Education Workforce | Learn Welsh. During 2024-25, the Centre will be developing new bespoke provision to meet the needs of the sector. For example, a pilot course for secondary teachers in English-medium schools with some Welsh will be developed to be delivered flexibly and a short on-line confidence / ‘gloywi’ course for those teaching in a range of settings. £0.5m will be allocated from the Teacher Development and Support BEL in 2024-25 to support this work.
2.31 In addition to the Sabbatical Scheme and provision via the National Centre, a total of £2.57m will be allocated to local authorities as part of the amalgamated Cymraeg 2050 strand of the LAEG in 2024-25 to support the delivery of teaching Welsh and through the medium of Welsh. The funding is used collaboratively to support the development of national professional learning resources and provision for example to support practitioners who have completed the sabbatical scheme courses to use their new skills back at school; to support teaching assistants to model language patterns with learners and to support headteachers to plan strategically for the development of Welsh in their schools.
2.32 In addition, £4.5m is allocated to local authorities as part of the Welsh in Education Grant (WEG), which was re-established in 2023-24 following discussions with local authorities. With 30% match funding from local authorities the total value of the WEG is £5.85m. The WEG supports the delivery of local authority Welsh in Education Strategic Plans in three key areas:
· support for latecomer and late immersion centres;
· support for linguistic progression and for Welsh-medium and bilingual schools, and
· support the development of Welsh in English-medium schools.
2.33 The WEG will continue in 2024-25 and will also be allocated as part of an amalgamated Cymraeg 2050 element of the LAEG to local authorities.
3. Specific Areas
3.1 Updates on allocations in 2023-24 budget
Information on the allocation of £3 million in 2023-4 and £1.5million in 2022-23 to the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and National Centre for Learning Welsh to increase the amount of Welsh-medium delivery in the apprenticeship and further education sector, and to provide free Welsh language learning for 16 to 25-year-olds and teaching staff.
3.1.1 The Programme for Government and our Co-operation Agreement with Plaid Cymru includes a commitment to invest in the Coleg, and the National Centre for Learning Welsh to provide free Welsh language learning for 16 to 25-year-olds and teaching staff. This additional funding builds on the existing core budget for the Coleg which supports Welsh-medium and bilingual delivery across universities, FE colleges and training providers by providing grant funding together with training and mentoring to build teaching capacity.
The 2022-23 budget included an additional £1.5m allocated to the Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol as follows:
· Post-16 education: £1,136,840
· Higher Education: £213,160
· Initial Teacher Training: £150,000
3.1.2 The additional allocation funded a programme of development grants to colleges and apprenticeship providers to develop capacity and provision in priority sectors, including childcare, health and social care, sports and leisure, and agriculture. In addition, the funding supported two specific projects to develop the confidence of students who are able to teach through Welsh, and to attract students back to Wales to teach through the medium of Welsh.
3.1.3 The budget for 2023-24 included a further £3m for the Coleg and the National Centre for Learning Welsh. From the additional £4.5m allocated for 2023-24, £2.825m was allocated to the Coleg and £1.675m for the National Centre.
3.1.4 For 2023-24, the Coleg is using its funding to continue to strengthen and support delivery in the leisure and sport, health and social care, childcare and agriculture sectors; as well as extending provision in the business and creative arts sectors. In the Apprenticeship sector, the Coleg continues to build capacity in health and social care and childcare sectors enabling more learners to speak Welsh and be confident bilingual speakers for the workplace. The funding is also supporting the continuation of two initial teacher education projects.
3.1.5 The £1.675m for the National Centre in 2023-24 is being used to extend provision for 16-25 year olds and the education workforce in order to provide free access to Welsh courses. As part of the offer, eligible learners aged 18 and over are also able to access the mainstream Learn Welsh courses in the community. To date in 2023/24, over 1,300 learners aged 16-25 are benefitting from the offer.
3.1.6 The National Centre began offering free courses for teachers and other workers in the education sector in September 2022 and the additional funding has enabled the Centre to extend this provision for 2023-24. Provisional data from the National Centre shows that 1,200 individuals accessed provision during the 2022/23 academic year, with over 1,000 having registered to date during 2023/24.
3.1.7 The Co-operation Agreement funding is being maintained at £4.5m for 2024-25. The provisional split in the budget for 2024-25 remains at £2.825m for the Coleg and £1.675m for the National Centre. Reprioritising £3.5m funding in this way for 2024-25 will allow us to protect core services that support our ambitions for Cymraeg 2050. In particular, we will be able to maintain funding linked to the Welsh Language Education Bill, Mudiad Meithrin and the Welsh in Education budget to support Welsh language delivery.
3.1.8 However, reprioritising funding may lead to the Coleg having to withdraw from some commitments made to FE Colleges and Apprenticeship providers. It may also result in a reduction in the numbers learning Welsh. We will work with the Coleg and the National Centre to explore options to mitigate the impact of this approach and support action to maintain Welsh-medium provision in priority sectors as well the provision of free courses for 16-25 year olds and the education workforce.
Update on the distribution of £2.2m allocated (per annum) to expand Welsh language immersion provision across Wales and how this funding has been used by local authorities across Wales.
3.1.9 The Programme for Government includes a commitment to expand the Pupil Immersion Programme. Since the investment of £2.2m in 2021-22 to support Welsh learners to undertake Welsh-medium late immersion in schools, eight local authorities have created new Welsh-medium late immersion provision (Blaenau Gwent, Bridgend, Caerphilly, Torfaen, Merthyr Tydfil, Neath Port Talbot, Powys) and other local authorities have expanded their existing late immersion programmes to meet the growing demand.
3.1.10 The continuation of funding of £2.2m in 2023-24 has ensured local authorities continue to develop their late immersion provision in their area. This has allowed them to:
· continue and develop their existing provision;
· open their first late immersion centres – Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen, Caerphilly and Neath Port Talbot;
· deliver provision such as pilots for ‘pop up’ immersion provision; procurement of specialist training in immersion methodologies and resources; scoping projects to establish latecomer provision based on other LA models and Welsh-medium late immersion resources;
· develop innovative digital technologies to support learning, such as Gwynedd’s Virtual Reality (VR) digital resource project Aberwla consisting of a VR village providing opportunities for learners to use their language skills in different contexts. The funding will support an all-Wales roll out over the coming years.
3.1.11 The funding for 2024-25, which will transfer as part of the amalgamated grant to the Cymraeg 2050 strand of the LAEG, will allow local authorities to continue with their projects ensuring over 60 specialised late immersion teachers / classroom assistants are in post. It will also continue to support the roll out of Gwynedd's VR project, Aberwla, across Wales over coming years.
Details on take-up of the Iaith Athrawon Yfory incentive, and any impact evaluation information that could be shared.
3.1.12 The table below shows the number of Initial Teacher Education students receiving the Iaith Athrawon Yfory incentive for 2018/19 to 2022/23 (as of 13 November 2023).
|
Academic Year: |
2018/19 |
2019/20 |
2020/21 |
2021/22 |
2022/23 |
|
QTS Claims |
60 |
95 |
130 |
105 |
75* |
|
Induction Claims |
45 |
80* |
105* |
65* |
n/a |
|
QTS Deadline |
31/08/2020 |
31/08/2021 |
31/08/2022 |
31/08/2023 |
31/08/2024 |
|
Induction Deadline |
31/08/2023 |
31/08/2024 |
31/08/2025 |
31/08/2026 |
31/08/2027 |
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
Total Claimants |
60 |
95 |
130 |
105 |
73* STC |
*This number may rise as the deadline has not yet passed. Numbers are rounded to the nearest 5.
3.1.13 Only those claiming the first payment (QTS) are eligible for the second payment. Due to the time of year, no claims or payments have yet been made against the 2023-24 Scheme. Claimants that took ITE from 2018/19 to 2022/23 claim this incentive directly from the Welsh Government, as such the above table may not indicate actual levels of Welsh ITE Secondary student teacher recruitment.
3.1.14 Data pertaining to ITE recruitment, including Welsh-medium recruitment across phases and subjects, since academic year 2016/17 can be found in the annual ITE statistical bulletin. Data on academic year 2022/23 will published in May 2024. We recently updated the impact assessment for the incentive scheme.
Update on budget allocations from other parts of the Ministers portfolio, such as the Teacher Development and Support BEL in relation to how it is used to support the development of the Welsh language in the education sector.
3.1.15 Funding is available within the Teacher Development and Support BEL to support the development of the Welsh language in the education workforce (see paragraphs 2.24-2.29).
3.1.16Sufficient provision is being maintained as part of the Curriculum and Assessment BEL to continue development of bilingual Curriculum for Wales resources and supporting materials as needs are identified through practitioner engagement (and in advance of Adnodd adopting its commissioning and quality assurance functions). Alongside this, practitioners continue to support the review of all curriculum resources on the Hwb platform, which are now populating a dedicated Curriculum for Wales resources section. As the review has progressed, more and more bilingual resources are appearing in this section so that schools and settings can be assured of their quality and alignment to the Curriculum for Wales.
3.2 Welsh Language Commissioner
Allocations and commentary in respect of the budget allocation for the Welsh Language Commissioner in 2024-25.
3.2.1
As outlined in
paragraph 3, a cross-government decision has resulted in a
re-shaping of indicative spending allocations to provide extra
funding and protection for the services which matter most to people
and communities across Wales – the NHS and the core local
government settlement, which funds schools, social services and
social care and other everyday services. Spending more in
some areas means that there is less to spend in other areas.
This has led to a 5% budget reduction for all four statutory
Commissioners in Wales, including the Welsh Language Commissioner.
This takes the Welsh Language Commissioner’s revenue
allocation for 2024-25 to £3.189m, a reduction of
£0.168m. There are no changes to the Commissioner’s
non-cash budget of £0.121m and £0.050m capital for
2024-25.
3.2.2 We will work with the Commissioner to manage the impact associated with this reduction. In the budget estimate for 2024-25, the Commissioner’s office highlighted the pressures of funding annual pay deals for staff and requested an additional £0.147m revenue to fund a projected 5% pay deal in 2024-25. Approximately £0.032m is due to an increase in employer contributions to the Civil Service Pension Scheme. The UK Government's Autumn Statement on 22 November confirmed that additional funding would be provided to cover the estimated costs for pension schemes in Spring 2024. We expect that Wales will receive a consequential "Barnett share" of any additional funding allocated to UK Departments and further information will be provided as part of the First Supplementary Budget 2024-25.
3.3 Capital expenditure in relation to the Welsh language
Detailed progress on expanding capacity in Welsh-medium schools, the distribution of the Welsh Medium Capital Grant and progress to date across local authorities in Wales.
3.3.2 Initially, £46m of capital investment was approved during the first round of Welsh-medium capital funding in 2018. However, additional projects were approved following the original announcement which increased the approved investment for the first cycle from £46m to £74m.
3.3.3 A second tranche of funding totalling £30m was announced in March 2021, to support capital projects dedicated to growing the use of the Welsh language in education according to local WESP needs. This was on top of the existing allocation announced for Band B of the Sustainable Communities for Learning Programme.
3.3.4 Of the 51 bids submitted, a total of 11 bids were approved across nine local authority areas with the remaining bids that met the criteria, but could not be supported due to available funds, placed on a reserve list.
3.3.5 During October 2022, additional Welsh-medium capital projects were approved. These projects listed at Annex B were on the reserve list from the second phase of Welsh-medium capital grant funding. Following a further review of the Welsh-medium capital grant reserve list, in July 2023, additional projects were approved in principle, subject to approval of a business case. These seven projects listed at Annex C total £14.540m.
Summary
The budget as relevant to the Welsh language in the Education and Welsh Language MEG Draft Budget for 2024-25 is presented to the Committee for consideration.
Jeremy Miles MS
Minister for Education and Welsh Language
ANNEX A – WELSH LANGUAGE BUDGETS WITHIN THE EDUCATION AND WELSH LANGUAGE MEG FOR DRAFT BUDGET 2024-25, 2023-24 FORECASTS AND 2022-23 FINAL OUTTURN
Resource budgets
|
Action |
BEL Description |
2022-23 |
2023-24 |
2023-24 |
2023-24 |
2024-25 |
2024-25 |
2024-25 |
2024-25 |
2024-25 |
|
|
£000s |
|||||||||||
|
Pre-16 Education Support via LA's |
Cymraeg 2050 (LAEG) |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9,770 |
0 |
9,770 |
|
|
Total Pre-16 Education Support via LA's |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
9,770 |
0 |
9,770 |
||
|
Welsh in Education |
Welsh in Education |
17,713 |
20,775 |
19,030 |
18,830 |
24,275 |
-3,500 |
-2,200 |
-1,675 |
16,900 |
|
|
Total Welsh in Education |
17,713 |
20,775 |
19,030 |
18,830 |
24,275 |
-3,500 |
-2,200 |
-1,675 |
16,900 |
||
|
Welsh Language |
Welsh Language |
23,716 |
22,404 |
24,149 |
26,236 |
22,404 |
0 |
-500 |
1,675 |
23,579 |
|
|
Welsh Language Commissioner |
3,101 |
3,357 |
3,282 |
3,282 |
3,357 |
-168 |
0 |
0 |
3,189 |
||
|
Welsh Language Commissioner - Non Cash |
165 |
169 |
245 |
245 |
121 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
121 |
||
|
Total Welsh Language |
26,982 |
25,930 |
27,676 |
29,763 |
25,882 |
-168 |
-500 |
1,675 |
26,889 |
||
|
Welsh Language - TOTAL RESOURCE BUDGET |
44,695 |
46,705 |
46,706 |
48,593 |
50,157 |
-3,668 |
7,070 |
0 |
53,559 |
||
Capital budgets
|
Action |
BEL Description |
2022-23 |
2023-24 |
2023-24 |
2023-24 |
2024-25 |
2024-25 |
2024-25 |
|
|
£000s |
|||||||||
|
Welsh Language |
Welsh Language Commissioner |
242 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
0 |
50 |
|
|
Total Welsh Language |
242 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
0 |
50 |
||
|
Welsh Language - TOTAL CAPITAL BUDGET |
242 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
50 |
0 |
50 |
||
ANNEX B – WELSH MEDIUM CAPITAL GRANT ALLOCATIONS – APPROVED OCTOBER 2022
|
Local Authority |
Project |
Capital |
Status |
|
1. Newport |
Sports Hall for Ysgol Gyfun Gwent Is Coed |
£3,334,919 |
Design development. Scheme amended and additional £1,866,410 funding approved. |
|
2. Torfaen |
3G Pitch for Ysgol Gyfun Gwynllyw |
£1,650,000 |
Under construction |
|
3. Cardiff |
Ysgol Glantaf SRB Unit |
£129,202 |
Complete |
|
4. Cardiff |
Ysgol Bro Edern refurbishment |
£105,421 |
Complete |
|
5. Cardiff |
Plasmawr demountable unit and refurbishment |
£1,148,620 |
Complete |
|
6. Conwy |
Cylch Meithrin Ysgol Bro Aled |
£55,644 |
Complete |
|
7. Anglesey |
Ysgol Llanfawr chilcare unit |
£596,800 |
Complete |
|
8. Anglesey |
Ysgol y Graig childcare unit |
£298,031 |
Complete |
|
9. NPT |
Ysgol Trebannws refurbishment |
£460,000 |
Complete |
|
10. NPT |
Mynachlog Nedd refurbishment new seedling school |
£550,000 |
Complete |
|
11. Powys |
Ysgol Pennant refurbishment and extension |
£671,473 |
Under construction |
|
|
£9,000,110 |
|
An additional project received delegated approval following the original announcement, namely £100,366 during 2022-23 to fund the creation of a pastoral hub at Ysgol Morgan Llwyd. This project was put forward for funding as part of the second phase of the Welsh Medium Capital Grant and was placed on the reserve list. In October 2022, it was identified as a project that could be delivered within the current financial year. A basic business case was submitted and £100,366 Welsh Government funding was agreed for 2022-23.
ANNEX C – WELSH-MEDIUM CAPITAL GRANT ALLOCATION – APPROVED JULY 2023
|
Local authority |
Project |
Capital |
|
1. Cardiff |
Glantaf ALN – This project will enable 60 additional Welsh-medium places (30 ASD and 30 CLN) |
£7,850,000 |
|
2. Denbighshire |
Ysgol Bro Elwern – Build a new classroom and ancillary space at the school |
£1,066,546 |
|
3. Denbighshire |
Ysgol Bro Cinmeirch – 2 class extension |
£1,359,164 |
|
4. Denbighshire |
Ysgol Brynhyfryd – Increased capacity and immersion provision |
£1,561,924 |
|
5. Denbighshire |
Ysgol Tremeirchion – 2 class extension |
£1,255,021 |
|
6. Denbighshire |
Ysgol Henllan – 1 class extension |
£558,341 |
|
7. Vale of Glamorgan |
Ysgol Iolo Morgannwg – A self-contained unit to provide Welsh-medium immersion placements, as well as offering Welsh lessons for adults, particularly those living within the residential development.
|
£888,807 |
|
Total |
|
£14,539,803 |
[1] Budgets within the Cymraeg 2050 (LAEG), Welsh in Education, Welsh Language and Welsh Language Commissioner Budget Expenditure Lines (BELs) only.