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 Cabinet on 4 March, senior councillors will receive the draft Welsh Language Promotion Strategy for 2025 to 2030.

The report explains that the number of Welsh language speakers in the county has fallen over the last 20 years.

Census records show that the numbers of Welsh language speakers in Powys fell from 21.1 per cent on 2001, to 18.6 per cent in 2011, further falling to 16.2 per cent on 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 to 15 and 16p 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 per cent.

The strategy has three objectives 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 said: “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.”