Agenda item

To submit information about the Department's contribution to the Language Policy and how we attempt to promote the Welsh Language in our work.

To accept the report and to note the observations received.

To accept the report and to note the observations received.

he report by the Head of Children and Supporting Families Department was presented, and she highlighted the steps taken within the department to promote the Welsh language.   

She added that the service included elements of Social Services, the Supporting Families Team, Early and Nursery Years, and the Youth and Justice services. She explained that all parts of the service had extensive responsibilities. 

Attention was drawn to the department's priorities as follows: 

·       Advance and promote and early years services by working together with Hunaniaith. 

·       Encourage employees to use and improve their language skills, and provide resources and support to childminders. 

·       Support the ‘Croesi'r Bont’ scheme for immersing nursery aged children in the language – she noted that 11 cylchoedd (pre-school settings) in the County had been supported by the scheme to date. 

·       Provide support to parents – on-line 'clwb cwtsh' sessions, 35 individuals. 

·       Provide support to children and vulnerable young people to ensure that the language needs of all children have been taken into account. 

·       She explained that although language was a factor in considering care and support packages, some children came into care because of severe risks or needs, where an out-of-county placement was essential.  She added that although it was not possible to ensure the language choice in this case, the Social Workers addressed the language requirements by keeping contact over the phone and providing resources in their placement. 

·       She shared with the committee that 91% of the department's workforce reached the language designation, and she provided an example of the Youth Justice Service Manager who had strived to learn the language and was now fluent. 

·       They ensured that third party contracts contained language skills, with the exception of some individual contracts relating to out-of-county placements. 

·       She expressed that there were challenges with recruiting Social Workers, which led to recruiting non-Welsh speaking social workers to ensure service provision and to ensure that statutory safeguarding duties are met. 

·       The translation unit was thanked for all their support in ensuring that virtual meetings had continued in Welsh. 

Members were invited to ask questions and offer observations. During the discussion, the following observations were noted:- 

·       A member enquired what were the department's plans for coping with the challenges such as recruiting Welsh speaking staff and offering a proactive language choice? 

·       They asked whether there was anything the department could do jointly with the secondary education sector to address the recruitment problem? 

·       How common was the situation of Welsh speaking children being placed with non-Welsh speaking foster parents? 

·       A member asked what were the criteria for a cylch meithrin to be a part of the Croesi'r Bont scheme, since only 11 cylchoedd had been noted. 

·       The members thanked the department for all their hard work, and expressed that their passion towards safeguarding the children of Gwynedd and the Welsh language was inspiring. They also thanked the Head of Department in particular for describing the pressure and stress that staff have faced, and for explaining the situation regarding the shortage of social workers. 

·       They enquired whether there were fewer Welsh-speaking people fostering or adopting, and what were the obstacles. 

·       Concern was expressed regarding Welsh youths in prison not being able to speak Welsh. A member proposed writing a letter to the Children and Young People Commissioner from the language committee to try to ensure fairness in the situation. 

In response, the following was noted: 

·       The staffing situation existed partly as staff had been moving jobs internally, because the last year had been exceptional in terms of job pressure. She added that these staff members moved to less high-pressure roles. She explained that this left gaps, which was concerning since the recruitment of bilingual staff was proving challenging. 

·       In response to a question regarding promoting a Social Work career, it was explained that young people tended to complete their degree and then gained experience in the field, and then followed a M.A. Social Work course. She supported looking into promoting Social Work as a career. 

·       There were no challenges in terms of recruiting workers fresh from the courses; the challenge lay in recruiting experienced staff. 

·       Many of the carers/prospective foster parents were bilingual, however, she added that it was not always possible to ensure this. 

·       There was a commitment with workers locally to conduct meetings in Welsh, with the use of translation for non-Welsh speakers. 

·       In response to a question about the profile of prospective foster carers/adopters, she stated that this was down to personal choice, but a promotion campaign did take place regularly.