Welsh speaking in Powys shows sharp decline

By Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

Halting the decline of the number of Welsh speakers in Powys is the aim of a new council strategy for the language that covers the next five years.

At a meeting of Powys County Council’s Liberal Democrat/Labour Cabinet this Tuesday, senior councillors will receive the draft Welsh Language Promotion Strategy for 2025 to 2030 which highlights that the number of Welsh language speakers in the county has fallen over the last 20 years.

Census records show that Welsh language speakers in Powys fell from 21.1% in 2001, to 18.6% in 2011, further falling to 16.2% by 2021.

But the council says in its draft strategy “there is hope” to change this declining trend.

The council said: “The census showed Welsh is a language of young people in Powys.

“In all our communities apart from Ystradgynlais, the percentage of Welsh speakers in the three-15 and 16-24 age groups is higher than that for 50 years old and over.”

The draft strategy outlines the council’s ambition to maintain the number of Welsh speakers at 16.2% per cent by 2030.

Then in the next version of the strategy, which will cover the years up to 2035, the council will aim to increase the percentage of Welsh speakers in Powys to 20%.

The report states: “The strategy has three objectives which show how we will promote the Welsh language. Each objective has actions and measures which will enable us to monitor progress.

The objectives are to “increase the number of children and young people in Powys who speak Welsh confidently, increase the use of Welsh in the council’s internal work and encourage businesses, the voluntary sector, and community organisations to use Welsh in their customer service offering.”

The report also explains that the strategy is supposed to compliment the Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) 2022 -2032 and not duplicate its work.

The report adds: “The strategy addresses the challenge of ensuring young people continue to use Welsh after leaving school and making it a thriving language of the community.”

But there will be no extra money provided by the council to help make the strategy work.

The report explains: “The current financial crisis within the council means there will be limited funding available so activities will have to be contained within existing budget.”

The recommendation is that councillors approve the document.