Venue: Cyfarfod Rhithiol / Virtual Meeting. View directions
Contact: Lowri Haf Evans Email: lowrihafevans@gwynedd.llyw.cymru 01286 679 878
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ELECT CHAIR To elect a Chair
for this committee for 2020/2021 Decision: Councillor Elin
Walker Jones was elected as Chair of this Committee
for the 2020/21 period Minutes: Councillor Elin
Walker Jones was elected as Chair of this Committee
for the 2020/21 period |
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ELECT VICE CHAIR To elect a Vice chair for this committee for 2020/2021 Decision: Councillor Cai Larsen was elected as Vice-chair of this Committee for
the 2020/21 period Minutes: Councillor Cai Larsen was elected as Vice-chair of this Committee for
the 2020/21 period |
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APOLOGIES To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: Apologies were
received from Councillor John Pughe Roberts |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest Minutes: No declarations of
personal interest were received from any members present. |
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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. |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on the 16th of January 2020 be signed as a true record Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee, held on 20 October
2020, as a true record. |
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To consider the
report Additional documents: Decision: -
To accept the report with thanks to the Welsh
Language Officers for their work during this time - To
write a letter to the Welsh Language Commissioner expressing concern that it is
not always possible for Gwynedd Council staff to contribute in Welsh in virtual
meetings arranged by outside organisations as they do
not provide simultaneous translation service provision for virtual meetings. - To
write a letter to Microsoft encouraging them to provide simultaneous
translation via Teams - To receive an update on the work of the
National Sub-group which discusses information technology issues at the next
meeting. Minutes: Submitted - a report
by the Senior Language and Scrutiny Advisor summarising the opportunities and
challenges that various departments have faced in relation to continuing to
implement the language policy due to Covid 19. An
update was also provided on various projects that had been delivered despite
the situation, in order to promote and increase the use of Welsh in Gwynedd. It was reported that, in general, everyone
noted that the virus had not affected their ability to provide Welsh-medium
services, as they had adapted their methods of service provision, and had
continued to offer Welsh language services. However, some noted that there was
a possibility of missing the informal opportunities to converse in Welsh in the
office, on the corridor or in the kitchen, particularly those who did not have
an opportunity to speak much Welsh outside the workplace. In response, it was
noted that the Welsh Buddy Scheme offered those informal opportunities for
Welsh learners to maintain their momentum while working from home as well as
additional sessions of on-line training which had been positive. It was explained that
one concern highlighted in the survey was that it was not always possible for
staff to contribute in Welsh in external virtual meetings that had been
organised by other organisations as they did not use technology that enabled
the easy use of simultaneous translation services. It was noted that not all
external organisations currently provided a simultaneous translation service for
virtual meetings, and some were unwilling to use Zoom due to security concerns. During the ensuing discussion, the following
observations were made by Members: ·
That public bodies in Wales
were required to provide a Translation service at meetings - that provision was
available to do so - and that the Language Commissioner's attention should be
drawn to the problem. ·
A suggestion to hold a quiz
to promote opportunities to practise speaking Welsh ·
It would be beneficial to
receive information about the number who had attended / contributed to on-line
events. ·
Put
pressure on Microsoft and campaign to include a simultaneous translation
resource on Teams (which was favoured by other Councils) ·
Welsh was developing as a
contemporary, modern medium in technology and used among young people - needed
to take advantage of this ·
Needed
assurance that the 'Track and Trace' service was available in Welsh In response to the
observations, it was noted that the Language Commissioner was aware of the
obstacles regarding providing simultaneous translation at meetings. It was
noted that a national sub-group had been set up to seek solutions. It was also
noted that Gwynedd Council was sharing good practice with Councils and
Partnerships to improve the provision if they were not allowed to use Zoom. It
was proposed that an update be given on the work of the sub-group at the next
meeting. In response to maintaining momentum with Welsh
lessons, it was noted that a 'Cymraeg i Gefnogi' scheme had been
established which was very successful. In response to a question regarding the ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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WELSH LANGUAGE STANDARDS AND THE COUNCIL'S WELSH LANGUAGE POLICY PDF 325 KB To consider the
report Decision: To accept the report Minutes: This report was submitted
by the Language Advisor providing a brief update on work
that had been going on over
the past few months in respect of the Language Standards and the reporting duties. It was noted that, overall, the Service continued to be successful in complying with
the requirements of the Standards,
but there were some areas
of concern arising, and definite themes
did come up which provided specific work fields.
It was reported that the
Service had been proactive in liaising with
the Commissioner during the
past year, for the purposes of discussing some issues of importance and concern, such as the barriers we face when commissioning external systems and apps. It was added that, by having an open
conversation, it was hoped
to be able to develop a mutual understanding and good collaboration
which would have a positive impact when trying
to influence external
bodies that were sometimes ignorant to the status of the language and the Standards' requirements in Wales - the impact assessment template was an example of this. Reference was made to the challenges together with the developmental fields and attention
was drawn to the skills report
which expressed that the percentage able to speak Welsh within the Council was 'very high' with
99.1% meeting the requirements
of the post. Further attention
was drawn to the Language Commissioner's
Assurance Report 2019-20 - Closing the Gap and that the report would be shared with the Members via e-mail. It was noted that it was intended to review the Language Policy in January as some
clauses were not strong enough in
some fields. It was noted that the work would be split
into two categories - administrative changes, which mean minor changes to edit the wording, in order to make
the requirements clearer and significant / principle changes which involve the need to discuss and seek agreement
to implement in some contexts. It was reported that an
item would be presented at the next meeting on the possible amendments to the Policy. Members expressed their thanks for the report. During the ensuing
discussion, the following observations were made by Members: ·
That a Welsh image needed to be conveyed across the Council ·
A request for a language complaints report - a questionnaire on salt had been sent out to Highways Department staff in English only ·
That the use of social media
was having an impact on the early
years - a suggestion that this should
be investigated In response to an observation regarding having Welsh as a 'default' on social websites, it was reported that research on the public's use of the website was being carried out by the website team and the communication unit. The Cabinet Member added that this was a technical challenge, but that the number of hits on the Welsh version of the website ... view the full minutes text for item 8. |