Tertiary Education and Research (Wales) Act 2022

9 Promoting tertiary education through the medium of Welsh

(1) The Commission must—

(a) encourage‍ demand for, and participation in,‍ Welsh tertiary education provided through the medium of Welsh;

(b) take all reasonable steps to ensure that there is sufficient‍ Welsh tertiary education provided through the medium of Welsh to meet‍ demand;

(c) encourage the provision of tertiary education through the medium of Welsh by—

(i) registered providers in Wales, and

(ii) other persons providing tertiary education funded or otherwise secured by the Commission.

(2) The Welsh Ministers must designate a person to give relevant advice to the Commission.

(3) In this section, “relevant advice” means advice given for the purpose of assisting the Commission in the discharge of its duties under subsection (1).

(4) A person may be designated under subsection (2) only if the Welsh Ministers consider the person is suitable to give advice on the following—

(a) the promotion, maintenance, development and planning of tertiary education provided in Wales through the medium of Welsh,

(b) the promotion of the acquisition and improvement of Welsh language skills,

(c) the maintenance, development, planning and provision of activities to support the acquisition and improvement of Welsh language skills, and

(d) collaboration between tertiary education providers in Wales in relation to the matters mentioned in paragraphs (a) to (c).

(5) The duty in subsection (2) does not apply if—

(a) the Welsh Ministers consider there is no person suitable to give advice on the matters mentioned in subsection (4), or

(b) there is no person who consents to be designated.

(6) The Commission must have regard to any relevant advice given to it by a person designated under subsection (2).

(7) The Commission must publish a designation made by the Welsh Ministers under subsection (2).

(8) A designation under subsection (2) may be removed.