Agenda, decisions and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillors Beth Lawton, Beca Brown, Olaf Cai Larsen, Gwynfor Owen and Elfed Wyn ap Elwyn.

Councillors Rob Triggs and Gwilym Jones were welcomed to their first meeting of this Committee.

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 28 January 2025, be signed as a true record  (attached)

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 28 January 2025 as a true record.

To consider the report.

To accept the report and note the observations received.

The report was presented by the Head of Housing and Property Department. ⁠She referred briefly to the following main points: 

It was reported that a number of the Department's projects and plans contributed to the objectives of the Council's language strategy, such as the Housing Action Plan. It was explained that this plan included over 30 projects that aimed to tackle the housing crisis in Gwynedd and strive to ensure that the people of Gwynedd had access to suitable, affordable housing of a good standard to improve their quality of life. Pride was expressed that over 8,000 local individuals had received support through this plan to date.

It was explained that the Department's Empty Homes Scheme addressed the lack of housing for local people. It was noted that 101 grants had been distributed to the buyers of empty houses who had a local connection to assist them in renovating them to an acceptable standard of living. It was updated that this scheme had recently been expanded to include empty houses that used to be second homes. It was explained that this scheme was previously only applicable to first-time buyers but in order to respond to the public's high demand for support from this scheme, it was expanded to all types of buyers and helped them to address increased materials and construction costs.

It was confirmed that the Department gave thorough consideration to the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 as well as to the equality and linguistic impacts and Socio-economic duties within the plans. There was pride in the Department's positive impact on equality characteristics and the Welsh language by increasing the range of housing available within the County to try and meet the needs of communities. It was elaborated that 63% of Gwynedd residents, who had been priced out of the housing market, had received support to access affordable homes, loans, grants or tax relief. It was noted that Adra Housing Association had recently shared data with the Department, confirming that 94% of the residents of a new estate in Dinas, Llanwnda were able to speak Welsh, and similarly, that 96% of the residents of a new estate in Tregarth had Welsh language skills. An intention was expressed to submit a report to Cabinet to highlight the impact of this scheme, endeavouring to extend it until 2028/29.

It was reminded that the Department was leading on the Homely Gwynedd project, which was part of the Cyngor Gwynedd Plan. It was reported that the Department achieved this by increasing the supply of housing for local people. It was assured that this was a priority to ensure that the residents of Gwynedd had suitable, affordable homes of a good standard through tenancy, support to buy a house or to renovate empty houses. There was pride that 97% of lettings through the housing register went to someone with a connection to Gwynedd, with approximately 60% going to individuals with a connection to the community in which they wish to live. It  ...  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 presented by the Head of Economy and Community Department, the ARFOR Programme Regional Manager and the Gwynedd Business Development Team Leader. They referred briefly to the following main points:

The ARFOR programme funded by the Welsh Government since 2019 to develop the economy to support Welsh language strongholds, across west Wales in Gwynedd, Anglesey, Ceredigion and Carmarthenshire, was expanded upon. It was explained that the aim of the project was to maintain and create work that enables young people to return and stay in the region to work while also promoting the use of the Welsh language. It was confirmed that Cyngor Gwynedd's Economic Development Service was leading the work on behalf of the four counties, confirming that an investment of £11 million had been provided by the Welsh Government over the last two years.

It was explained that an Agreement in Principle had been developed in conjunction with the Welsh Government as part of the process of applying for funding through the ARFOR programme. This meant that businesses were expected to undertake a language assessment by the Welsh Language Commissioner and that they would work towards the Welsh Offer. It was confirmed that this had been successful across the region and that a strong relationship has been forged with the Commissioner. It was added that the Welsh Language Commissioner had held a number of awareness-raising sessions to increase the visibility of the Welsh language and pride was expressed that a number of companies had taken part in these sessions.

It was pointed out that 'Hac Iaith' sessions had been held in each county within the west Wales region of the ARFOR programme. It was noted that these sessions highlighted how non-Welsh speaking businesses could use the language within their operations and the benefits associated with doing so. Similarly, it was reported that the World's Most Welsh-language awards were held where residents nominated and rewarded businesses they considered to be at the forefront with their use of Welsh, in order to market those businesses that operated through the medium of Welsh and bilingually within the region.

It was updated that it was hoped to work with the Welsh Government and the Welsh Language Commissioner to develop the Welsh Business Promise. It was explained that the Commissioner did not have the capacity to provide the Welsh Offer to small businesses, as the aim was to influence larger businesses. Members were reminded that the Welsh Offer was an accreditation provided by the Commissioner for businesses that applied for it by formulating a language policy and operating parts of their business in Welsh.

There was pride that the ARFOR programme had succeeded in holding a meeting between the Language Policy officers of each county within the region, in order to share good practice and hold ongoing discussions about the role of language policies when considering the economy and the Welsh language.

The increase in the use of Welsh within businesses in Gwynedd as a result of ARFOR programmes, such as  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider the report.

To accept the report and to note the observations received.

The report was presented by the Welsh Language Learning and Development Officer, and she briefly drew attention to the following main points:

Members were reminded that the Language Designations project was commissioned by this Committee in 2015 and was operational until 2023. It was explained that the purpose of the project was to ensure the consistency and appropriateness of the language requirements of the Council's posts, while the Council prepared for the statutory requirement of the Language Standards introduced in 2016, to keep a record of the language levels of its staff. It was added that the other purpose of the project was to ensure that support was available to staff members to use the Welsh language and continue to learn it, reducing the risk that Council staff would not be able to provide bilingual services to the people of Gwynedd.

It was noted that all posts advertised prior to the implementation of this project denoted 'fluent' language requirements and a detailed and ongoing record of the language proficiency of Council staff was not officially kept. It was added that the wording of the language skill levels differed from those used nationally which caused challenges when researching suitable training for similar language levels.

It was explained that the first part of the project was completed by the Human Resources service in 2016, where Welsh language skills levels were adapted to the wording used nationally (Entry, Foundation, Intermediate and Advanced). It was added that the service had also adapted all posts within the Council in order to adapt the language requirement for them in line with the requirements of the post.

It was reported that the second part of the project had taken place in 2017 where research had been carried out on how to gather detailed and accurate language assessments for staff, ensuring that there was support to maintain language skills levels or training to enable any member of staff to reach the appropriate language levels for their jobs. It was noted that this part of the project had been piloted with the Council's Gwynedd Consultancy department before being expanded to all other departments. Pride was expressed that this had led to the Language Self-assessment that staff members could find on the in-house self-service system, which informed them of their language skills level upon completion and gave staff members the opportunity to denote if they needed any help or to develop confidence to use the Welsh language. It was pointed out that a technological system had now been developed to store all the responses to the language self-assessment, thus providing officers with essential data.

It was confirmed that this data which included staff language levels and the numbers of individuals attending language training was shared with heads of departments on a quarterly basis and was used regularly as departments prepared to submit reports to this Committee. It was elaborated that a member of staff from the Council's main departments and Byw'n Iach sat on the Language Designation Forum which met  ...  view the full minutes text for item 7.

To consider the report.

To accept the report and to note the observations received.

The report was presented by the Corporate Director and the Head of Legal Services. They referred briefly to the following main points:

It was reminded that the Leadership Team and Corporate Services collaborated with all Council departments and partners to contribute to policies, plans, projects and work streams that realised the objectives of the language strategy. An example of this was shared when detailing the 'More Than Words' project confirming that the Statutory Director of Social Services was part of the project board and had recently been elected as the Chair of the board for the north Wales region.

It was reported that the Chief Executive represented Cyngor Gwynedd on the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board with the assistance of the Corporate Director. It was reported that there was a noticeable change in the number of Board meetings which were held in Welsh, with the vast majority of meetings being held through the medium of Welsh with a translation service available. It was confirmed that this was the only Board of its kind in Wales to hold meetings in Welsh and bilingually.

It was pointed out that Cyngor Gwynedd was the host authority for a number of regional partnerships such as the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee. Pride was expressed that the Council was able to maintain all aspects of this responsibility bilingually with emphasis being placed on the Welsh language. The Head of Legal Services elaborated that work had been underway to move staff from the North Wales Growth Deal to the new corporation in April this year. It was explained that Legal Services were working with the Corporate Joint Committee to develop a range of long-term service level agreements. It was emphasised that this would mean that Legal Services would move away from the current arrangement of appointing locum solicitors, who did not have Welsh language skills but were appointed on the basis of their specific expertise, in order to develop teams in Gwynedd that could support the Corporate Joint Committee while also committing to the requirements of the Council's Language Policy.

It was explained that the Corporate Director was Chair of the Digital Transformation Board which ensured that the Welsh language was central to any future development of digital systems, as part of Cyngor Gwynedd's Plan. It was elaborated that a Digital Suitability Assessment had to be completed before taking on new digital systems, confirming that consideration of the language was part of this assessment.

Pride was expressed that the Leadership Team and Legal Services had been collaborating with CISCO/Webex to develop a new telephone system for Council staff. It was explained that this system forwarded calls to other staff members if the recipient was in a virtual call or meeting. It was pointed out that this international company had collaborated with the Council to develop a new Welsh language provision for the use of Council staff. It was emphasised that this Welsh language provision would be available to other organisations and companies wishing to obtain  ...  view the full minutes text for item 8.