Venue: Cyfarfod Rhithiol / Virtual Meeting. View directions
Contact: Rhodri Jones 01286 679256
No. | Item |
---|---|
ELECT CHAIR To elect
Chair for 2022-2023 Decision: Elect Councillor
Elfed Wyn ab Elwyn as chair of the Welsh Language Committee for the year
2022/23. Minutes: Elect Councillor Elfed Wyn ab Elwyn as Chair of the
Welsh Language Committee for the year 2022/23. |
|
ELECT VICE CHAIR To elect
Vice Chair for 2022-2023 Decision: Elect Councillor
Llio Elenid Owen as Vice-chair of the Welsh Language Committee for the year
2022/23. Minutes: Elect Councillor Llio Elenid Owen as Vice-chair
of the Welsh Language Committee for
the year 2022/23. |
|
APOLOGIES To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were received from Councillors Alan Jones Evans, Gwynfor
Owen and Menna Jones (Cabinet Member for Corporate Support). |
|
DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest Minutes: No declarations
of personal interest were received. |
|
URGENT BUSINESS To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration Minutes: No urgent items were
received. |
|
The
Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this
committee held on 7th April 2022 be signed as a true record (attached) Minutes: The Chair
signed the minutes of the previous committee meeting held on
7 April, 2022, as a true
record. |
|
ANNUAL REPORT ON THE IMPLEMENTATION OF WELSH LANGUAGE STANDARDS PDF 350 KB To consider
and discuss the Annual Report and offer observations on matters contained in
the Report. Additional documents:
Decision: To accept the report
and note the observations received and approve the report to be published in
line with the deadline of 30 June 2022. Minutes: The report was presented by the Language
Adviser, and she briefly drew attention to the following main points: -
The Language Adviser explained that this report had been created as a
result of Section 44 of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, which made it
a requirement for the Council after the end of the last financial year, before
30 June 2022. -
It was also noted that its purpose was to summarise and explain how the
Council implemented and complied with the language standards. -
Pride was expressed that the report's figures showed that 99.1% of the
Council's workforce had Welsh language skills. This figure included any person
who had any type of Welsh language skills - whether they were fluent,
partly-fluent or only understood a little bit of the language. -
It was expressed that 91% of
all Council staff met the language designation of their post. The ability to
work through the medium of Welsh was very important to the Council, and the
Language Adviser was proud that this figure was high. Nevertheless, it was
accepted that this figure could be increased. One way of attempting to do this
at present was by offering Welsh language training to those staff who did not
yet meet their language requirements, in order to help them develop the skills. -
It was noted that 909 jobs had
been advertised on the Council's website in the last financial year where it
was noted that Welsh language skills were essential for the role. -
It was explained that a number of developments had been completed over
the year in order to ensure that bilingual services could be offered effectively: o
The Translation and Democracy Services teams had been busy over the year
developing facilities in order to be able to hold multi-location meetings.
Testing had been undertaken to ensure that the meetings could be held with
people attending in the chambers and some people attending virtually, whilst
also ensuring that the simultaneous translation service could continue without
any obstacles. o
Trials had been undertaken with Council departments for a new self-assessment
system. This system asked them to complete a self-assessment in order to see to
what extent they complied with the language standards. This enabled the
Corporate Support department to carry out a Corporate Self-assessment of the
Council's compliance with the language standards, for submission to the Welsh
Language Commissioner. Members
of the committee were given an opportunity
to ask questions: -
A member asked whether it was
possible to look at the percentage of Council staff numbers who met the
language designation level of their job over time, so that it could be compared
with the last years. - It was asked whether it would be possible to contact other agencies and bodies that collaborated with the Council when they suffered from linguistic failures. A member also asked if this could be done at a high level in order to ensure that the linguistic standards of our partners were sufficient. ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
|
PROMOTIONAL SCHEME - ADULTS, HEALTH AND WELFARE SECTOR PDF 440 KB To submit
information about the Department's contribution to the Language Policy and how they
attempt to promote the Welsh Language in their work. Decision: To accept the report
and note the observations received. Minutes: The report was submitted by the department's
Senior Business Manager, and in brief, he drew attention to the following main
points: -
It was explained that the department followed a Successive Strategy
Framework entitled 'More than Just Words', which set requirements on the department
to ensure that care was available for the residents of the County through the
medium of Welsh without them having to request this. -
It was reported that one of the department's biggest challenges of late
was the recruitment of new staff. This was a national problem, and within the
county, some areas experienced more difficulty than others with the recruitment
of staff. In addition to this, there were some specific posts, such as
Occupational Therapists, that were difficult to fill as specialist skills, as
well as Welsh language skills, were needed. -
He elaborated on a very
specialised field that the department was involved in, namely Dementia. Further
investigations revealed that it was all-important for patients to receive care
in the language that they felt most comfortable to use, as this improved their
well-being. Subsequently, the department was working to develop Dementia units
in supported housing, dementia specialist support staff and new technology to
support people who wished to stay in their own homes. Members
of the committee were given an opportunity
to ask questions: -
A member asked whether it was possible to ensure that Welsh-medium care
was available for people suffering from Dementia within the private sector. -
Enquiries were made as to
whether the department had had to consider advertising for posts where Welsh
was not essential in order to attract applicants who had the relevant
specialist skills. -
It was enquired whether the
department had a process to try and pair-up patients with carers who were able
to provide care in accordance with the patient's language choice, particularly
bearing in mind that not all patients required care through the medium of
Welsh. -
It was asked whether there was an intention to offer care through the
medium of Welsh beyond Gwynedd at present, and whether the budget was available
in order to provide care effectively. In response, the Senior Business Manager noted: That ensuring
care through the medium of Welsh to patients within the private sector was very
challenging as every patient had the right to choose where they received their
care. This was the reason why the department was so eager for the Council to
offer and provide care through the medium of Welsh. -
It was confirmed that every
effort was being done to pair-up patients with carers who had suitable
linguistic skills. This could be challenging at times, particularly when a
patient needed urgent care. - It was noted that there was an intention to develop the out-of-county opportunities of receiving care through the medium of Welsh. It was noted that these opportunities were very restricted at the moment, but Gwynedd led the way to encourage other counties through the 'More than Just Words' forum. ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |
|
PROMOTIONAL SCHEME - CHILDREN AND SUPPORTING FAMILIES SECTOR PDF 466 KB To submit
information about the Department's contribution to the Language Policy and how they
attempt to promote the Welsh Language in their work. Decision: To accept the report and note the observations
received. Minutes: The report was submitted
by the Head of Department, and in brief
she drew attention to the following main points: -
It was explained that this
department also followed the 'More than Just Words' Successive Strategy
Framework, in the same way as the Adults, Health and Well-being Department, -
The Early Years
Service collaborated closely with CWLWM, which were 5 national lead
organisations for childcare, in order to promote the Welsh language across
childcare settings within the County. This very often led to new projects that
were promoted by the 5 organisations, such as a new podcast by Mudiad Meithrin with the assistance of Nia Parry, entitled
'Baby Steps Into Welsh', which assisted children and
parents to learn the language. The Early Years Service
also benefitted from collaborating with CWLWM as the Mudiad
Meithrin's Cynllun Croesi'r Bont bridged nursery
classes linguistically, and 11 cylchoedd meithrin
within the county received such support. -
It was also reported that the department promoted the Welsh language
independently in many ways. £100 grants were being offered to non-Welsh
speaking private childminders to purchase relevant Welsh language resources. In
addition to this, many teams within the department used the 'FRIENDS' parenting
course and had managed to translate the course into Welsh for the County's
parents. -
It was noted that it was not possible to obtain a suitable childcare
setting within the county for every child, often for safety reasons. If no Welsh-medium
setting was available for the child, the department and the Social Workers
would continue to visit and contact the children through the medium of Welsh,
in order to promote their linguistic development. -
It was explained that the department was leading 55 Nursery Education
providers at present, who received support from an Early Years Teacher to
assist with teaching through the medium of Welsh. Pride was expressed in the
Flying Start Scheme, which served in deprived areas in the County, and provided
a Welsh-medium education to 2 year old children. There
were 12 Flying Start Child Care settings within the County at present. -
It was highlighted that work
was being completed to promote the Welsh language for older children as well,
such as creating and developing the Duke of Edinburgh Award App for secondary
school children. -
It was confirmed that promoting the Welsh language had been given
prominence by the department over the past year. One member of staff, Stephen
Wood, succeeded in the Dafydd Orwig Memorial Awards this year, for his success
in learning Welsh. As well as using the language verbally within the
department, many written resources and videos had been developed to train staff
on various important features within the department. Also, the department was
in the process of dubbing resources for regional and national use, in order to
provide an effective bilingual service. - A discussion was held on the effective work of the Youth Service, and it was noted that many schemes such as gardening, cookery and graffiti workshops, were now available through ... view the full minutes text for item 9. |
|
To consider
and discuss the revision of the Language Policy and approve the recommendation
of seeking the Cabinet Members’ approval. Additional documents: Decision: To accept the report
and note the observations received and approve the next step of the process,
which is to present the Policy – with any changes deemed necessary – the
Council Cabinet for approval. Minutes: The report was presented
by the Language Adviser, and
she briefly drew attention to the following main points: -
She began by explaining that
the department had started to look into potential revisions to the language
policy in 2020, following major changes in the way the Council operated when
providing services to the public. -
It was explained that a need
had arisen to provide clear guidance to staff about specific subjects, such as
how the Welsh language was being used via the Council's IT systems. -
Details were given on the
proposed revisions to the policy, such as: o
General principles at the start
of each section o
Substantial changes to Section 5
(Digital services - website, apps and self-service) to explain the use of Welsh
in different technological systems. o
Adding a new clause to Section
6 (Signage) to reflect the Council's commitment to the place names project and
promote Welsh place names. o
Substantial changes to Section
12 (job advertisements and the recruitment process). o
Obtaining assurance of whom is
accountable to the policy as well as the responsibilities of Elected Members
and Language Committee Members under Section 15 (Accountability). Members
of the committee were given an opportunity
to ask questions: -
A member asked whether consideration had been given to including
suitable wording in various sections of the policy to ensure that the Council
protected the percentage of Welsh speakers in communities, as well as maintain
Welsh services for those speakers. -
The need to ask one question
through the medium of English at the Council's recruitment meetings was
questioned and considered. -
A member asked whether something needed to be included which noted the
need for Welsh language skills for sub-contractors who worked with the Council
on various projects. -
Attention was drawn to the fact
that elected members were bound by the Code of Conduct, and therefore there was
a need to consider whether the language policy acknowledged this. -
It was asked if there were any
implications for members of staff who needed to receive training to achieve the
language designation of their job but have been unable to attend those training
sessions. -
It was asked whether this was the final opportunity to propose changes
to the language policy. In response, the Language Adviser noted: -
That consideration could be
given to the point made about protecting the percentage of Welsh speakers
within our communities. That the
language standards of sub-contractors who worked with the Council was
considered in a specific section of the language policy, but that the wording
of this section could be revisited to ensure that this was highlighted. -
It was confirmed that there were
no consequences if staff missed Welsh language training to achieve their
language designation. Nevertheless, individuals who did not reach their
language designation were regularly monitored to see what type of training
could benefit them so that they could succeed to foster Welsh linguistic
skills. In response the Democracy ... view the full minutes text for item 10. |