Agenda item

To present information of the Environment Department’s contribution to the Language Strategy.

To accept the report and note the observations received.

The report was presented by the Assistant Head of Environment Department ⁠who referred briefly to the following main points: 

⁠It was noted that the front-line nature of the Department led to daily contact with the public and Councillors, therefore every effort was being made to promote the language from day to day, through the work and actions of the staff.

He confirmed that the Department's policies promoted and supported the Welsh language, since consideration of the Welsh language had been central to the development of the Joint Local Development Plan. He added that there was a dedicated Planning Policy in place for dealing with language matters and noted that the Supplementary Planning Guidance provided further detailed guidance on how the Welsh language should be taken into account through all types of developments. He highlighted that the process of developing a new Local Development Plan was currently underway as one of the priorities of the Council Plan. He emphasised that the Welsh language was central to the development of this Plan.

The Members were reminded that the Council had introduced an Article 4 Direction across the Gwynedd Local Planning Authority Area (noting that this did not include areas that are within the Eryri National Park boundaries). It was reported that planning permission was required to change a property from a main residency into a second home or short-term holiday let since the Article 4 Direction had come into force on 1 September 2024. He explained that the objective was to have better control of the housing stock within the County, to meet the housing needs of Gwynedd's residents. He elaborated that the Direction was a means of assisting the aim of supporting and promoting the Welsh language.

He reported that there had been significant progress in terms of the Department's language skills statistics during the past year, through the self-assessment questionnaire. It was noted that a high number of staff were front-line workers, such as the Waste and Recycling services, where they do not have easy access to the staff intranet site. Consequently, the self-assessment questionnaires were completed with team leaders to gain an understanding of the workforce's language needs. It was highlighted that 81.4% of the Department's staff had completed the questionnaire, and that 83.6% of those employees reached the language designations for their posts. It was acknowledged that the Department needed to continue developing this field, but the officers were confident that they would see progress in future as the work continued.

The efforts of the staff to learn the language and improve their language skills were praised.

During the discussion, the following observations were made:- 

A member drew attention to a statistic within the report that noted that three planning applications had been refused partly due to various language issues, and that 13 planning applications had been granted permission with a planning condition for language alleviation measures. More information was requested regarding on what language reasons could planning permission be refused, and what language alleviation measures could the Department impose on successful applications. In response, the Assistant Head of Department confirmed that he was not able to share specific details about cases. However, it was considered that planning applications would be refused because of lack of evidence about the development's impact on the Welsh language. He elaborated that the department could impose language alleviation conditions that related to the use of Welsh names and signs. ⁠He emphasised that a condition had been imposed on 35 successful planning applications to ensure a Welsh name on businesses and on over 120 new dwellings.

The Members were reminded that the Council does not assist any planning application with language statements or any other assessments for planning purposes, as the Council must be impartial. It was acknowledged that language statements were developed by individuals who tended to support the planning applications. Nevertheless, it was emphasised that every application was assessed and challenged based on the evidence submitted. Reference was made to the need for clearer and definitive guidance from the Welsh Government in order to change this situation in future.

It was questioned that the Department was implementing to assess the effect that the Article 4 Direction would have on the housing stock in Gwynedd. In response to the enquiry, the Assistant Head of Department confirmed that there was a monitoring framework in place and that the Planning Service received regular reports from the Taxation service to identify changes in the market as time went by. He elaborated that they would be able to confirm whether more houses are paying the basic council tax rate and whether or not house use was changing as this process continued in the future.

A member enquired whether the Assistant Head was aware of any discussions by other Planning Authorities to introduce an Article 4 Direction in future? In response, the Assistant Head confirmed that Eryri National Park had decided to look into introducing an Article 4 Direction. It was reported that the evidence and information gathered by Cyngor Gwynedd was of huge help to them as they prepared to introduce the Direction and that the two Authorities worked closely together. He noted that they had carried out a formal consultation and that a final decision would be made by the Authority soon.

It was considered that the front-line staff of the Department's services, such as Waste and Recycling, did not reflect the language of the communities they served in some areas of the County. It was noted that recruitment challenges were considered a contributing factor to this problem. In response, the Assistant Head agreed that recruitment was difficult for the Department in general. He emphasised that the Department was making efforts to address this situation and it was hoped that the receipt of information from language skills self-assessment questionnaires would enable the Department to address this situation in future. The Senior Operational Officer added that a lack of confidence amongst staff members to use language skills had also contributed to this challenge. ⁠It was reported that work was ongoing to encourage all employees to make use of the Welsh language skills they already possessed.

It was asked if the Department used agencies to advertise job applications, or were these applications made internally within the Council? In response, the Assistant Head confirmed that job advertisements were made bilingually and internally within the Council. It was elaborated that the Senior Operational Officer had been developing recruitment packs so that Council benefits could be more attractive to companies.

A member enquired about an update on the development of the Tir a Môr pack since the Department's presentation to the Language Committee in 2023. In response, the Assistant Head noted that considerable progress had been made on this scheme as the Department had received feedback that it was a very valuable pack. It was added that the use of the pack was being widened, as Anglesey County Council had expressed an interest in using it. Assurance was given that data on this pack would be presented to the Language Committee during the Department's update in 2025.

The members expressed their thanks for the report.

RESOLVED

To accept the report and note the observations received.