Agenda item

To present information about the contribution of the Leadership Team and Legal Services to promote and further the Welsh Language.

To accept the report and note the observations received.

The report was submitted by the Chief Executive and the Head of Legal Services. ⁠Attention was drawn briefly to the following main points:

It was emphasised that the Leadership Team stood firmly on the use of the Welsh language whilst not compromising, as it set a precedent for the rest of the Council. Frustration was expressed that no sufficient Welsh facilities were used in meetings held by the Welsh Government by elaborating that discussions were frequently held in English. It was confirmed that Cyngor Gwynedd led on ensuring that sufficient facilities were used in meetings and because of this, attention was drawn to the letter that was sent to the Welsh Language Minister at the Welsh Government to declare the Leadership Team's concern regarding the present situation.

It was reported that the Leadership Team and the Council collaborated with many national and regional bodies. The members were ensured that officers encouraged those bodies to try and reflect Cyngor Gwynedd's language policy and to promote an internal use of the Welsh language. An example of this was shared namely that the Corporate Director and the Senior Language and Scrutiny Adviser were members of the Steering Group that was established by the Welsh Language Commissioner to develop policy models to increase the use of the Welsh Language within public bodies in Wales. It was explained that the Group, which included representatives from many establishments, allowed Council officers to share experiences such as language policy development, recruiting methods, the Council's internal use of the Welsh language, training and encouragement offered to staff to develop their confidence in the Welsh language. It was emphasised that there was representation from the Council on the Gwynedd and Anglesey Public Services Board by noting that the Board had been working on a project regarding recent workforce recruiting matters to attract Welsh-speaking staff. It was also mentioned that the Council collaborated with Menter Iaith Gwynedd (Language Initiative) to develop projects.

It was explained that the Statutory Director (Social Services) had specific responsibilities in terms of promoting the use of the Welsh language within the care sector. It was explained that it was expected for each local authority and Health Board in Wales, to appoint a senior leader as a 'champion' of the Welsh Language as part of the 'More Than Just Words' work programme and confirming that the Statutory Director (Social Services) undertakes that role in Gwynedd. It was confirmed that it was a requirement in accordance with the Social Services and Well-being Act (Wales) 2014 for the 'champion' to ensure pro-active use of the Welsh language for it to be available without the user having to ask for it. It was emphasised that this was customary within Cyngor Gwynedd since many years and that the Director used his role as a 'champion' and 'More Than Just Words' Chair to assist others to be pro-active in the Welsh Language. It was emphasised that he had also been a judge on the Social Care Wales national awards on the use of the Welsh language in the care sector recently.

It was acknowledged that the use of English within information technology had been a challenge for the Council in the past years. However, there was pride that most Council staff who used computers as part of their jobs, did that with Welsh language software on their devices. It was detailed that this enabled officers to work on e-mails, Microsoft Office and more through the medium of Welsh. It was noted that this change was one that had been a cause for concern for some staff members, but those staff were happy with the software after they got used to it.

It was reported that the Legal Service was a team of 25 officers who worked in the legal field, elections, supporting the coroner as well as propriety duties associated with the Standards Committee and the role of the Monitoring Officer.

It was confirmed that the Legal Services promoted the Welsh language through providing service to many main regional establishments and providing constitutional support for them as part of Cyngor Gwynedd's role as the Host Authority. It was detailed that the Council used its representation within these regional establishments to hold meetings and prepare bilingual documentation and prioritise the Welsh language.

It was explained that the legal service also supported officers of the election service, through responding to new legislations continuously by updating policies. It was noted that the Council drew the attention of the government and other bodies towards any Welsh language need that was deficient to ensure that provision of the Welsh language was available in all aspects of the work where possible.

Attention was drawn to the fact that the legal service's recruiting situation had improved recently as they had succeeded to attract qualified officers who possessed Welsh language skills. It was emphasised that the service had also been involved in the Cynllun Yfory programme and apprentices to teach necessary skills to new young officers and providing legal services bilingually for the future.  It was acknowledged that the service used temporary workers occasionally who did not possess Welsh language skills. It was emphasised that they were employed for a short period when specific expertise was needed as the Council officers did not have that expertise. It was noted that the service moved away from using temporary workers because of recruiting successes but it was unlikely that they would stop being used entirely due to the nature of the work that the service involved.

Gratitude was expressed for the report and for ensuring that the Council led on linguistic matters nationally.

RESOLVED

To accept the report and note the observations received.