Something to Cut in Cornwall

Should language be cut?

From the start let me be clear that I am not doubting that some people will wish to speak Cornish but raising questions as to its funding and purpose.

Cornwall Council have a budget of £170,000 for the financial year 09/10 to promote the Cornish language. £20,000 of this comes directly from the Council and the rest is from central government. The recognition of Cornish under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages in 2002 has given a new lease of life and importantly protection to Cornish. The budget lasts until March 2010 when it will be re-negotiated.

Primarily this has been used by the Cornish Language Partnership. But this does not mean that we cannot question this. After all £170,000 is a lot of public cash. Especially at a time of forthcoming public cuts and the need to prioritise services and cash.

The uptake of Cornish has been relatively slow suggesting that there is limited interest in keeping the language widely alive. A report from the Government Office Network found that a ‘relatively small number of pupils’ were learning the language and this was mainly extra-curricular. (Figures to follow). This does not represent a massive demand, but arguably represents a good return for the central government investment.

The language has even been tough by two Welsh universities. But it was not until the creation of the Institute of Cornish Studies in 1972 at the University of Exeter that the language had any academic foothold in the South West.

There are two points that should be considered when deciding if this investment is worthwhile:

1. The provision of Cornish in Cornwall is dependent upon a Cornish speaking teacher being available. Especially as Cornish is not part of the National Curriculum – although this may change if Cornish schools are awarded freedom to set their curriculum under plans by the coalition government. This makes it hard to demonstrate that public money is being spent to enhance opportunities for all Cornish students.

Equally, as this is mostly national funding, why should pupils from across Britain be denied the chance to learn the language?

2. The use of teaching it. The Cornish Language Partnership list business who use Cornish! However, this is a limited number. Internationally, there are even fewer businesses prepared to accept Cornish. Essentially English is the predominate language and this is unlikely to change – how, then, can we justify spending such an amount on this provision?

Of course the counter is that the Cornish is part of the local culture. I agree, it certainly is. But culture is capable of looking after itself. If there are as many Cornish speakers as the CLP suggest then the language will be organic and will spread naturally amongst local families. No one has yet answered the question: Should the tax payer pay for what is, essentially, a luxury and not an essential school skill.

Secondly, the CLP seem determined to force Cornish into the county. They wish to see bilingual signs around the county and have discussed the processes for achieving this. This is perfectly fine –yet which should come first: the provision of a bilingual environment or a majority speaking a separate language?  Given that Mebyon Kernow received a mere 5379 votesat the last GE - 1.9 percent of the total Cornish  vote - there does not seem to be a strogn case at all.

A principle fear of mine is the Cornwall will follow the Welsh example. In Wales no one can join the public sector unless they speak Welsh. This is forcing a cultural change upon the people beyond its natural development. It is also isolating many potentially good workers who have no desire to learn Welsh. This is forcing a cultural change onto a community that has long since forgotten how to speak the language.

The Council post of 'Cornish Language Education Officer' is one post that the Council should consider cutting in order to meet the more essential services required by the Cornish. Given a choice between a culture that most only have a passing commitment to, or the provision of good roads and policing, I am sure the decision is a simple one to take.

But to give this idea some more consideration; Events such as the Celtic Film Festival in St Ives in 1997 do demonstrate that there is a small demand for provision of minority languages. However, at the moment in Cornwall, only a tiny minority speak Cornish and this does not warrant the spending of nearly £200,000 on the provision of services destined to affect the whole community. Especially when such funding is not targeting cultural events but instead being used to force the language onto the county.

Culture is not something we can throw away in a time of cuts. No one disputes this. Equally, we must be realistic. The country is broke and this budget (rather, what remains of it) should be a prime target for cuts. It is not a universal benefit, not does it add significantly to the employability of pupils learning it.

I applaud efforts to keep regional (or national) languages alive. But I do not accept that the public should be forced to pay for this.