The Position of the Welsh Language in Todays Society.

The most recent census figures (2001) presented in "Main Statistics about Welsh" by the Welsh Language Board, indicate 582,400 (20.8% of the population of Wales in households or communal establishments) were able to speak Welsh and 457,946 (16.3%) can speak, read and write it. This compares with 508,100 (18.7%) for 1991. Increasing use of the English language had led to a decline in the numbers of Welsh speakers. Since the introduction of the Welsh Language Act 1993, giving Welsh equal status with English in the public sector in Wales, this has been slowed.

The results of the "2004 Welsh Language Use Survey" indicate that there are 611,000 Welsh speakers in Wales (21.7% of the population living in households, a lower figure of 19.7% is given in the same paper), 62% claim to speak Welsh daily, and 88% of those fluent in the language speak it daily.

Most agree it’s between 22% and 30% the number is increasing though up to 45% of 5-15 year olds can speak read and write Welsh. It differs across Wales, from up to 80 + % in Places in Carmarthenshire, Ceredigion, Gwynedd and Anglesey to above 50% in communities of Pembrokeshire, Swansea, Neath, Powys, Clwys, and Denbigh. Some 32 000 Welsh speakers live in Cardiff which is around 16% of the population.

During the next 2 years, Police forces and their Police Authorities are aiming to operate more like a bilingual organisation by increasing the number of staff who can confidently speak or write Welsh and encourage them to use their skills more often to contribute to ensuring a choice of languages for the public and help to raise and promote the awareness of current and new staff regarding the police commitment to offer a bilingual service, work towards attracting more applications from Welsh speakers and learners from Welsh communities to join the police as officers or police staff. Part of this would be to nurture more contact with Welsh speakers and with various representatives of Welsh language groups developing a...