Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Councillor Eric Jones.

To receive any declaration of personal interest

No declarations of personal interest were received by any member present.

To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration

No urgent matters were received.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 12 October 2017 be signed as a true record  (attached)

The Chair signed the minutes of this previous meeting held on the 12^th October, 2017 as a true record.

The Cabinet Member for the Welsh Language presented a report detailing recent developments in the field, including the following:

§  The appointment of Eluned Morgan as the new Minister with responsibility for the Welsh Language – there is an intention to extend a formal invitation, inviting her to Gwynedd, to showcase the work underway here.

§  There has been no update on what will happen regarding the Welsh Language Bill.

§  Work on the Council Plan consultation, which will go before the Full Council on the 1^st March 2017, along with the Wellbeing Plan where the Welsh Language has been included as one of the priorities.

§  The Welsh Language Services Manager was thanked for her work in developing the Gwynedd Welsh Language Strategy which will go out for consultation in March.

§  Have met with Bethan Webb, Deputy Director of the Government’s Welsh Language Unit and frequent meetings will continue to discuss national and local matters e.g. Developments in language technology.

RESEOLVED accept the contents of the report.

An update on the timetable and a presentation.

The Welsh Language Service Manager presented an update on the contents of the Gwynedd Welsh Language Strategy. The strategy’s original timescale for consultation has been pushed back slightly to ensure that the strategy’s priorities are in line with the priorities identified in the Council Plan and Wellbeing Plan. The draft Language Strategy is now completed and will go before the Cabinet on the 13^th March 2018 to ask for approval to start the consultation period. It is intended for the strategy to be presented to the Language Strategy in April for formal consultation.

Members were guided through the contents of the draft strategy. During the following discussion, a series of questions/observations from individual members were responded to:

§  The content of the draft strategy was welcomed and gratitude was extended to the department for their work.

§  The importance of enriching opportunities to utilise the language as a natural, communal language which is used every day; although this will not increase the number of people speaking the language, it will strengthen the language for the future.

§  What is the value of a strategy against the value of a policy?

§  Arrangements to manage the performance of the priorities – it is important that the Language Committee has a significant role in this process.

§  There is a need to analyse the detail of our partners’ work to ensure that our work is not duplicated.

RESOLVED accept the draft strategy.

The Gwynedd Secondary Sector Language Strategy was presented by the Area Education Officer and the Secondary Sector Language Strategy Coordinator. It was noted that the strategy was developed in response to calls to ensure the continuation of Language Charter, which has been operating in primary schools for some time. The strategy, in draft form, has gone before the Secondary Sector Language Strategy Planning Group, the Language Committee, and the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee for consultation, and was approved by the Cabinet on the 26^th October 2017.

Members were guided through the contents of the strategy. During the following discussion, a series of questions/observations from individual members were responded to:

§  Is there a way to monitor the number of pupils who speak Welsh in schools such as Tywyn?

§  There is a need to address the continuous decline in the results of pupils who are assessed in First Language Welsh at the end of KS3. Is there a way to incorporate these needs into GwE provision?

§  Response to the strategy from the new Head of CBAC

§  The need to increase the number of teachers who teach first language Welsh to set a standard of teaching every subject in Welsh.

§  Ensure that volunteers/coaches who teach children after school use the Welsh language.

§  Need for the strategy to expand to every section of the Council.

§  Important for the colleges to also be included in the strategy.

RESOVED accept the content of the report and the next steps.

The committee was given a presentation by the Manager of the Popdy Centre in Bangor on the work of ‘Hunaniaith’, which is Menter Iaith. During the following discussion, a series of questions/observations from individual members were responsed to:

§  Is the work of Hunaniath duplicating the work of the libraries?

§  The importance of accepting the language regardless of the way it is being spoken

§  The need to promote more Welsh medium activities to young people

No grievances to report.

No grievances were noted.

No other matters were raised.