Carmarthen East and Dinefwr AM Rhodri Glyn Thomas is to lead a government group examining the use of Welsh by local authorities

The group will set out to investigate the use of Welsh in the administration of local government and examining the role of local authorities as facilitators of economic development in support of the language.

The group, which will report back in May, will also make recommendations in relation in the context of Local Government reform and the duties imposed on local authorities by the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

Mr Thomas described his appointment as an opportunity to make "a real difference" to the use of Welsh in public administration and the local economy.

He said: "Local councils are major employers and are responsible for spending substantial sums of money. In the case of Carmarthenshire the local authority is the largest employer in the county.

"The working group I chair will be looking at how this vast sum of public money can best support local economic development and the use of the Welsh language.

"The west of Wales will inevitably be the starting point for our work, whereby local authorities conduct much of their business through the medium of Welsh.

"We will be looking at how councils offer and conduct services to local residents, and what good practice can be shared across local authorities across Wales.

"I believe this is an opportunity to make a real difference to the way in which the language is actively supported and indeed how its use can be strengthened in both the public and, perhaps more crucially, in the private sector."

Welsh Government Minister for Public Services, Leighton Andrews, who made the appointment, said: "Local Government has a vital role to play in the delivery of services through the medium of Welsh, in the economic development of predominantly Welsh-speaking areas and in the strengthening of the Welsh language in daily use in the workplace and the wider community."