Agenda item

To submit the draft Annual Report to the members for them to recommend that the Cabinet Member approves publishing the Report.

Resolved:

·       To accept the report and note the observations received.

·       Recommend that the Cabinet Member publishes the report before the 30 June 2024 deadline.

The report was presented by the Senior Language and Scrutiny Adviser, and she briefly drew attention to the following main points:

It was reported that the report provided factual information required to be published by the Council in accordance with the requirements of the Language Standards under Section 44 of the Welsh Language Measure (Wales) 2011.

It was noted that the Standards set out some specific requirements for annual reporting, emphasising the expectation to confirm:

·       Number of complaints received during the year

·       Number of staff who possessed Welsh language skills at the end of the year

·       Number of staff who attended training courses offered by the Council through the medium of Welsh during the year

·       Number of new posts and vacant posts advertised by the Council, where Welsh language skills were noted as an essential skill for the role.

A summary of the report was provided, confirming that 98.9% of Council staff had some degree of Welsh language skills. In response to an enquiry, the Welsh Language Learning and Development Officer confirmed that the minimum job designation level in Welsh stated that it was a requirement for individuals to be able to greet and answer simple questions verbally, confirming that this was what this figure reflected. It was also noted that 92% of Council staff reached the language designation of their post.

They went on to confirm that 850 job advertisements had been published during the year, with Welsh language skills being essential to the role.

Attention was drawn to the fact that 22 staff members had completed access training, which was the initial language level training. It was noted that six individuals went on to complete foundation training as well as six individuals who completed the intermediate level. It was emphasised that this was not an indication that individuals did not continue with their training, but instead, it reflected the fact that job designations varied and not everyone who attended access training was required to continue to the higher levels. However, it was noted that they were welcomed to do so if they had an interest in improving their linguistic skills. In the same manner, pride was expressed that the number of individuals who had shown interest in receiving language refresher training was on the rise.

Reference was made to additional information seen in the report on developments during the year to improve compliance with the Language Standards, including:

·       Specific steps to promote the new Language Policy adopted in 2022.

·       Information on the new Language Strategy published at the end of 2023 which set out the Council's vision of increasing the use of the Welsh language across the county.

·       Information about the work of the More Than Words in-house forum.

·       Bilingual Workforce Recruitment Project.

It was explained that there was no reference to Menter Iaith Gwynedd in the report as they worked with Gwynedd communities instead of detailing on the use and compliance of the Language Standards.

Thanks was expressed for the report.

RESOLVED

·       To accept the report and note the observations received.

·       Recommend that the Cabinet Member publishes the report before the 30 June 2024 deadline.