Agenda item

To submit the report of the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support  (attached).

The Cabinet Member for Corporate Support, Councillor Nia Jeffreys, presented a report recommending that the Council accept the Welsh Language Promotion Plan for Gwynedd 2018-2023 and the associated action plan and to approve commencing the action.

The following points by individual members were raised:-

·         It was noted that it was this Council that led and pioneered in terms of the Welsh language and that pride should be taken in this strategy which was one of the Council's priorities.

·         Though the Council pioneered in terms of the Primary Language Charter and the Secondary Sector Language Strategy, that there was a gap in terms of the post-compulsory education and that it was important that the Council collaborated with its partners in that respect also.

·         Given the substantial contribution of some of the Council's partners to the success of specific elements of the strategy, it was asked what part those partners played in the consultation and how it was intended to collaborate with them to deliver the strategy.  In response, it was noted that the Local Services Board was an important part of this and that the Leader and Chief Executive were bound to push this forward.  It was also noted that conversations had already been held with some of the partners who had responded directly to the consultation in order to see what to include on the work programme.  Further discussions would be held with some partners and the aim was to establish one group which would bring all partners together as a starting point to discuss the strategy and the work programme in its entirety and then break it down to the thematic fields and bring the specific partners in.

·         It was noted that the document was mediocre, which met the Council's requirement to provide such a plan and noting what was expected by a council operating in the most naturally Welsh area in the world. However, due to the demographic certainty that Gwynedd enjoyed, it was easy to fall into a condition of self-righteousness which, unfortunately, filled the pages of the document and that passion, desire and aspiration were needed to get things done. It was added that the changes in the Council over the recent years had not always given priority to the Welsh language, e.g. during the last year, the Council had adopted planning policies which, if implemented, would undermine our Welsh-speaking communities. It had also closed youth clubs, transferred the leisure centres to an arm's length company and adopted an economic plan, key fields which should be central to this plan if the Welsh language was to be normalised in this county. It was further noted that, of the £52m allocated recently by Welsh Government towards Welsh education, only a little over £1m had come to Gwynedd, which was approximately 2% of the total, and that was because the bid submitted to the Government was for only 2%. If the Council had the desire and vision to make the Welsh language essential in Gwynedd, we would have submitted bids worth £20m at least, and though many of those plans would likely have been refused, the action in itself would have sent a message to the Government that Gwynedd did not want to avoid giving the priority to our language that it deserved. An opportunity which we could little afford to lose had been lost due to a lack of desire, a lack of aspiration and a lack of ambition.  It was also believed that the plan missed an opportunity. Time after time, there was reference to giving language choice to school pupils, but that wasn't what was happening in the Basque Country, Catalonia or parts of Ireland.  Unfortunately, at present, a third of Welsh-speaking pupils in Gwynedd were sitting their GCSEs through the medium of English and that had a direct impact on the county's bilingual education policy. Though Welsh education was growing in several parts of Wales, this did not appear to be true of Gwynedd. It was understood that not one secondary school in Gwynedd had received any of the Welsh text books provided by the Government, though these books were being used extensively in several other areas. The Language Committee should be central to implementing the content of this plan, but this was the most powerless committee ever seen.  It received and discussed reports, but knew nothing of the outcomes of those discussions and the committee could not even discuss language complaints from the public. This plan identified the challenges, recognised the opportunities and identified some solutions, but much more than this was needed.

·         Great disappointment was expressed regarding the negative attitude of the previous speaker towards what the Council was doing for the language.  It was stressed that the accusation of a lack of passion and a lack of aspiration for the Welsh language was incorrect and that the Welsh language was a priority for this Council. The development of the Welsh-medium education policy from 1974 onwards had taken strength and determination and it was an ongoing process, and our role in Gwynedd was to prove to the world and his wife that we were proud of using the Welsh language and encouraged everyone else to do so. It was not accepted that the plan was full of self-satisfaction. It was recognised that there was room for improvement and that we would be looking at ourselves, but not in a self-fulfilling way by any means.

·         Though the success of the Education Department's Language Strategy was recognised, there was work to do to educate at home, before children started at school, and also after they left. In response, it was agreed that there was a need to focus on parents as well and try to encourage children leaving school to have the confidence in their ability to speak Welsh. Years of work had gone in to developing our language policies, and statistics showed that the education system in Gwynedd was succeeding, with 92% of the county's children and young people able to speak Welsh.

·         The importance of celebrating success was stressed, and it was noted that the Welsh language had survived better in Gwynedd than anywhere else. It was also suggested that peddling the idea that the language was on its deathbed played to the hands of those who opposed the language.

·         The importance of teaching Welsh history more thoroughly in the schools was stressed, as people saw no purpose in learning the language if they were not aware of their history and culture.

·         It was noted that the language in Gwynedd would be in a much worse position without the Council's language policies, and as a result of the observations at this meeting, any opportunity to strengthen some of these policies should be sought. Despite the difference of opinion in the Chamber, it was clear that everyone was in agreement in terms of their desire to see the Welsh language prospering in Gwynedd, and everyone should work together in order to ensure the best possible policies.

RESOLVED to accept the Welsh Language Promotion Plan for Gwynedd 2018-23 and the associated action plan and to approve commencing the action.