Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Rhys Tudur and Elfed Wyn ap Elwyn.

Councillor Beca Brown was welcomed to her first meeting of the Committee and Councillor Llio Elenid Owen was thanked for her contribution to the Committee over the past few years, explaining that she was no longer a Member of the Committee due to her new appointment to the Cyngor Gwynedd Cabinet.

To receive any declaration of personal interest

No declarations of personal interest were received.

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

No urgent items were received.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 22 October 2024, be signed as a true record  (attached)

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 22 October 2024, as a true record.

To consider the report.

1.    To accept the report and note the observations received.

2.    To ask the Chair of the Education and Economy Scrutiny Committee whether the Welsh Language Committee Members could attend the meeting on 13 February 2025 to listen to the discussion as the 'Education Language Policy' is scrutinised by the Members.

The report was presented by the Head of the Gwynedd Immersion Education System and the Head of the Education Department. They referred briefly to the following main points:

It was reported on a project conducted jointly between the Gwynedd Youth Service and the Urdd aimed at increasing opportunities for young people to take part in activities through the medium of Welsh. It was explained that the aim of the project was to provide more opportunities for young people to use the Welsh language outside of school, increasing their confidence in the language. It was detailed that 5 Community Aelwydydd had been developed in the Felinheli, Bangor, Caernarfon, Ardudwy and Bala areas, offering various activities outside school hours. It was confirmed that these activities were currently held at six secondary schools, but it was emphasised that they hoped to expand on this collaborative project to more secondary schools in the future through further collaboration with the Urdd, Cell B, Gisda and Menter Iaith Gwynedd.

It was explained that the Gwynedd Youth Service received a grant worth £20,000 annually from the Welsh Government to try to increase young people's confidence in the Welsh language. It was noted that the Service's focus was on areas proving challenges with the Welsh language, such as Bangor and Dolgellau. It was acknowledged that this grant had come to an end at the end of the current financial year and, therefore, there was a need to ensure that the work was funded through alternative methods in the future.         

Reference was made to modernising plans and expanding on the immersion provision to teach Welsh to children, confirming that the work of building and modernising in Phase 1 had been completed. It was detailed that this phase was a project worth £1.1 million to create immersion units that transition Primary and Secondary education. It was confirmed that a new Immersion Unit had been built in Tywyn and it had officially opened on 20 January 2025. It was acknowledged that there had been a short slippage in the timetable of this development, but the Unit was now ready to receive Welsh learners. In the same manner, it was confirmed that Phase 2 of the modernising developments of the immersion provision was underway with new units being developed in Dolgellau and Maesincla. It was confirmed that the current unit at Llangybi would be moving to the Ysgol Cymerau, Pwllheli site. It was hoped that the three new units would be operational from the summer term 2025.

It was confirmed that the virtual 'Aberwla' ITC project had now been completed. It was explained that the project gave Welsh learners an opportunity to gain confidence to use the language socially in virtual locations before communicating in Welsh in their communities. It was explained that these virtual locations included a glamping field, a supermarket, a garage, a café, a leisure centre and a library. It was emphasised that this project was innovative, and work was being done to trial it in  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider the report.

To accept the report and to note the observations received.

The report was submitted by the Head of Corporate Services Department⁠, and he referred briefly to the following main points:

It was explained that the Department’s name had recently changed from 'Corporate Support' to 'Corporate Services' to convey the range of services that are part of the Department.

It was confirmed that the Department was leading on six priority projects within the Council Plan 2023-2028 and promoted the Welsh language at every opportunity.
It was added that the Department also supported many other projects in the Plan, namely Ffordd Gwynedd Plan Priorities 2023-2028. It was detailed that the Department was leading and contributed extensively towards realising priorities, namely:

·       A Satisfied and Healthy Workforce

·       Workforce Planning and Talent Development

·       The Council's Digital Plan

It was reported that the Information and Research Service was in regular discussions with the Office for National Statistics. It was explained that the Office for National Statistics had considered not conducting Censuses in the future and considered gathering data in other ways to gather similar information. It was noted that the Service and the Department had considered that continuing with the Census in its current form was an important practice to continue.

Attention was drawn to the fact that the Support Service continued to develop staff training modules bilingually through the internal Self-service system. It was added that they had been in contact with the Disclosure and Barring Service (DBS) office in Liverpool to put pressure on them to develop an online application form in Welsh, asking for an update for when that form will be available for use.

Reference was made to the work of the Democracy and Language Service, mentioning the Language Awareness sessions, the Gwynedd Language Forum, the Welsh language in business, Partnership Boards, Place Names Project and Visitors from the Basque Country.

Pride was expressed that Cyngor Gwynedd had been nominated for an 'Employer of the Year' award at the North Wales Work-Based Learning Awards 2025, following the Department's work to promote the Welsh language and influence providers to provide courses through the medium of Welsh to trainees and apprentices employed by Cyngor Gwynedd.

It was confirmed that influential work had been undertaken in the Procurement field as new Procurement regulations had been developed for the future. It was emphasised that the Procurement Service had influenced those discussions to ensure that the Welsh language was central to the Procurement process in the future.

Menter Iaith Gwynedd officers were congratulated for coming out on top in the Mentrau Iaith Cymru awards recently. It was explained that the award related to their work on developing Croeso Cymraeg.

It was explained that Artificial Intelligence (AI) was a development that the Department was aware of, using it when appropriate whilst being mindful of the challenges of using it. It was noted that this field will receive ongoing consideration from the Department as it developed over the next few years.

It was reported that 166 of the 176 staff members within the Department had completed the language  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.