Agenda item

To inform Members of the efforts of the Corporate Support Department to promote the use of the Welsh language.

To accept the report and note the observations received.

Submitted - the report of Councillor Nia Jeffreys, Cabinet Member for Corporate Support. It was noted that the Welsh language was one of the Department's main priorities and attention was drawn to some of the Department's main projects (Apprenticeships Project, Native Welsh Place Names Project, Jobs Advertising and the Development of Hunaniaith) along with the background work carried out by the Procurement Team. It was explained that pioneering work had been carried out in the Equality field to develop an integrated impact assessment template that set out the linguistic considerations within Equality impact assessments, and that this development had been adopted by the remaining five authorities in North Wales. This work was congratulated. It was explained that the department was prioritising recruiting more bilingual staff, especially in the legal department.

The Head of Corporate Support Department reiterated that all staff within the Department worked through the medium of Welsh. It was noted that the Welsh Language Unit was part of the Department and following the Cabinet's decision, it was intended to appoint a Principal Language Officer to lead Hunaniaith and develop it to be an independent entity outside the Council in future. 

It was explained that Keeping the Benefit Local Scheme had been developed to include 'social value' as part of the considerations for business contracts. Consequently, it was noted that developing Welsh language skills was included in contracts between the Council and external companies.

In the field of Job Advertising, it was noted that work had been done jointly with the Welsh Language Commissioner to be able to receive DBS forms in Welsh (rather than in English only) along with similar work to encourage issuing Welsh-only certificates in Wales along with bilingual certificates if registered in England.

It was emphasised that all apprentices joining the Council had agreed to invest in the Welsh language.

Appreciation for the virtual translation work provided over Zoom was expressed. It was explained that the Council had been required to use Zoom in order to provide translation services, although TEAMS was the formal resource used by the Council for virtual communication on a daily basis. The Translation Unit had now succeeded to adapt and train to provide the service on-line on Zoom.

It was noted that the Council had been collaborating with the IOSH body to use its resources in staff training sessions, specifically within Health and Safety. It was said that all of the resources had been provided in English in the past, but that the Council had pressed for permission to translate the resources to ensure that our staff could complete the work in Welsh.

Members were reminded that the Department was continuing to share its monthly Welsh language Tips to remind staff of various Welsh language grammar rules and that enabling services through the medium of Welsh and English was one of the main priorities of 'Workforce planning'.

Attention was drawn to an advertisement by Bangor University for a student to complete PhD research in the public use of Welsh language services in a public organisation. It was explained that Gwynedd Council would collaborate on the project and that the research evidence would be gathered through the Council.

Observations arising from the ensuing discussion:

·         It was asked if there was concern that there was not enough emphasis on attaining Welsh language qualifications for pupils within education. It was explained that the Council emphasised the importance of bilingualism within careers. It was noted that many were attracted to opportunities such as the apprenticeships as they were offered entirely bilingually. Attention was drawn to the work Hunaniaith had been doing with 16 to 18 year old pupils to identify the importance of the Welsh language in the workplace. One of the ways they had done this was by holding an annual conference jointly with Grŵp Llandrillo Menai and Coleg Cymraeg Cenedlaethol and invited individuals such as Nikki Pilkington to explain the advantages that had derived from using the Welsh language.

·         They asked for confirmation whether Hunaniaith would operate outside the Council someday. It was explained that this was not likely in the short-term but this was the aim and the wish in the long-term.

·         It was asked whether job advertisements should be amended to alleviate people's concerns about their ability in Welsh. It was noted that this was being addressed.

·         It was asked whether there was room to develop a forum or meeting for organisations to discuss current recruitment concerns? It was explained that workforce planning would be included in the Council Plan, and consequently there would be further opportunities to consider this. It was noted that there was collaboration with Coleg Cymraeg to encourage contact between organisations and it was hoped there would be discussions to identify current difficulties across the organisations.

RESOLVED

To accept the report and note the observations received.