Agenda item

To present information on the contribution of the Corporate Leadership and Legal Service Teams in encouraging and promoting the Welsh language.

To accept the report and note the observations received.

The report was presented by the Corporate Director and Head of Legal Service, and they referred briefly to the following main points:

-      Members were reminded that the Leadership Team supported the Council's Chief Executive.

-      It was confirmed that the Microsoft software was now installed as default on all the Council's devices. It was noted that the number of devices that had been kept on the Welsh software had risen to 63% compared with 47% last year. Nonetheless, they emphasised that continuous work was being done to encourage staff to use the Welsh software on their devices and supporting them to gain confidence in their Welsh-language computer skills.

-      It was reported that a new Language Forum was being established, with the first meeting of the Forum to be held in June. The Council Leader, the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support and the Corporate Director were members of the forum.

-      It was considered that one of the Leadership Team's main roles was to influence the use of the Welsh language in external bodies. It was noted that the Home Office were currently recruiting Welsh speakers because the Chief Executive, the Statutory Director and Head of Children's Department had refused to welcome non-Welsh speaking Youth Justice inspectors. They elaborated that officers at the Isle of Anglesey County Council had also made a stand in an attempt to have inspectors who could speak Welsh. Furthermore, it was noted that many other County Councils throughout the country had made a similar stand, noting that they would not accept any inspection until the Home Office had succeeded in recruiting inspectors who could speak Welsh.

-      It was acknowledged that recruitment difficulties had been challenging over the past year and that the legal service had been relying on a locum service to provide services in several fields. It was acknowledged that this had somewhat affected the use of the Welsh language within the service, as it was an exception to find locum solicitors who were Welsh speaking. It was emphasised that the recruitment situation was improving as the service was able to appoint more staff without compromising the Welsh language requirements, as the individuals who had been appointed already met the Council's language requirements.

-      It was explained that Gwynedd was leading on several regional main partnerships including GwE, the Ambition Board and the North Wales Corporate Joint Committee.  The legal service played a key role in maintaining these. The presence of Gwynedd officers within these partnerships was believed to ensure the use of the Welsh language in fields that were naturally technical. This was reflected in the partnerships' work.

-      It was discussed that Cyngor Gwynedd were about to purchase new software jointly with the councils in the east of the North Wales region. It was confirmed that the system's capability to revise and record information in Welsh and English was a core requirement for accepting the software, in accordance with Cyngor Gwynedd's language requirements.

Members were given an opportunity to ask questions and offer observations. During the discussion, the following matters were raised:

-      It was discussed that difficulties could arise when working with other agencies when simultaneous translation was not available in meetings or documentation. Consideration was given to whether there was a policy in force for such situations, in order to ensure that officers from Gwynedd all followed the same protocol.

-      In response to the enquiry, the Senior Language and Scrutiny Adviser confirmed that there was a process of recording complaints and difficulties in place. She confirmed that staff were reminded of how to respond in any such situation. The officer elaborated that this matter had been raised with the Welsh Language Commissioner recently and they were keen for the Council to share evidence of examples when they arose. She also detailed that the Welsh Government were keen to know more about any complaints that emerge so that they could know which departments did not comply with language policies.

-      It was considered whether it would be beneficial for the Council to send any documentation to external agencies in Welsh only to force them to use the Welsh language.

-      In response to the enquiry, the Democracy and Language Services Manager confirmed that the Council's policy was to write in Welsh first with an English translation beneath. It was confirmed that this was also true for the Council's meetings, which were conducted in Welsh with an English translation provided.

-      Consideration was given to the difference between communicating bilingually and communicating in English only, and the possibility that some individuals were ignoring the Welsh parts and concentrating on the English side only. One method was mentioned which could be used to ensure Welsh-medium correspondence from agencies, which was to not respond to any English-medium correspondence until Welsh correspondence arrived. The member elaborated that the method of bilingual communication was something that should be considered when the next opportunity arose to review the language policy.

-      In response to the enquiry, the Senior Language and Scrutiny Adviser confirmed that the majority of people wrote in Welsh unless they were already aware that the recipients of the correspondence did not understand Welsh. The Corporate Director expanded that the Welsh Language Promotion Plan would be revised over the coming months, and these matters could be considered during those discussions.

-      Examples were shared of situations where people who were able to speak Welsh turned to English when responding to the comments of individuals who spoke English in meetings. It was acknowledged that it was not easy, but it was noted that it was important for Welsh speakers to make every effort to respond to any comments in Welsh when a Translation facility was available to the non-Welsh speakers.

-      The officers were thanked for their work leading on the Welsh language.

Members gave thanks for the report.

RESOLVED

To accept the report and note the observations received.