Agenda item

To consider the report.

To accept the report, noting the observations received during the discussion.

The report was presented by the Head of Highways, Engineering and YGC and the Business Development Manager. They referred briefly to the following main points:

It was reported that the department was leading on three of the Council Plan projects at present, namely Clean and Tidy Communities, Acting on flood risks and Extending opportunities for play and socialising for children and young people in the County.

It was reported that 11 smart benches had been installed in Gwynedd this year. It was explained that these benches could report nearby local history, by working with well-known individuals such as Casi Wyn, Rhys Iorwerth, Guto Dafydd, Gwyneth Glyn, Manon Steffan Ros and Cedron Sion. Pride was expressed that this project was innovative as it was a new method of sharing local history through the medium of Welsh. Attention was drawn to the fact that the benches had been installed in Bangor, Caernarfon, Pwllheli, Cricieth, Tywyn and Porthmadog.

Members were reminded that Ymgynghoriaeth Gwynedd was being run as a commercial entity, confirming that the new Business Plan had been launched in April this year, which would be valid for the next five years. Assurances were given that this business plan was developed and disseminated through the medium of Welsh. It was elaborated that improving staff's language skills was a goal during this period, by providing Welsh education and training. The Ymgynghoriaeth Gwynedd recruitment video that would be shared on social media soon, was shared.

It was confirmed that the department was collaborating with local businesses and sub-contractors on a regular basis, sharing an example that the Environment Category Team had held an event in Tŷ Gwyrddfai in Penygroes with the cooperation of the Council's other departments, Adra Cyf Housing Association, as well as other companies. Similarly, it was noted that the Department was attending job fairs and events to engage with the people of Gwynedd, by holding face-to-face conversations on the opportunities of the company and the benefits of working for an organisation with a Welsh workforce.

The Finance Department and the Information Technology service were thanked for developing a system to manage the Council's Fleet through the medium of Welsh, as it assisted with the process of ordering materials, recording work, managing drivers, conducting a maintenance programme and keeping vehicle details. It was noted that this programme was Welsh and had been sold to other authorities, as noted previously during a previous item at this meeting.

An update was given that the Department was in the process of updating the fleet vehicles to be electric vehicles, and it was noted that 88 electric vehicles were in the fleet at present. It was acknowledged that using electric vehicles continued to be a new experience for Council staff members and therefore a Welsh video 'Sut i ddefnyddio cerbydau trydan' (How to use electric vehicles), was being developed by the Department to assist staff members when using the vehicle and charging it.

It was detailed that the Department employed 433 staff members and that 265 (61.2%) had achieved their language self-assessment. It was emphasised that the other 149 staff members were front-line workers, and the managers had completed the self-assessment on their behalf. It was confirmed that only 19 staff members had not achieved any type of language assessment at present. Pride was expressed that 96.9% of the Department's staff members reached the language designation of their job, noting that work was being done to offer Welsh training for the 13 staff members who did not reach the relevant language designation for their job.

It was acknowledged that some systems used by the Department were English only, ensuring that every effort was being made to ensure that they were translated to Welsh in the future for the benefit of the staff members and the public.

Pride was expressed that the Ymgynghoriaeth Gwynedd service had an Investors in People accreditation, taking pride in the fact that the survey could be carried out to receive the accreditation through the medium of Welsh.

During the discussion, the following observations were made: 

It was considered that the number of staff who had completed the language self-assessment was very low, asking the officers for further information on this matter. In response to the considerations, the Head of Department explained that this derived from the fact that many staff members in the department were front-line workers, and they did not have a Council computer by virtue of their post, meaning that they did not have access to the assessment. The Business Development Manager elaborated that work was progressing to ensure that the Manager of those staff members who did not have access to the assessment completed them with them, on their behalf. The Welsh Language Learning and Development Officer confirmed that the comments presented by the Manager during language assessments could be a fairer reflection of the staff's actual linguistic position, as individual tended to lack confidence in their linguistic skills when self-assessing.

The Department was praised for promoting their work in various ways, considering that the recruitment campaigns had been successful. In response, the Head of Department confirmed that several exciting jobs had been advertised recently. It was noted that the Department's main challenge was to attract people back to Gwynedd to work, because of the presumption that no specialist jobs were available here. Pride was expressed that the Department had managed to offer specialist jobs and attract people back to the area and raise the profile of the Department and Ymgynghoriaeth Gwynedd as a local employer. It was hoped that the recruitment video that would be shared on social media soon would be an added boost to this aim in the future, confirming that the Department offered jobs and apprenticeships. Likewise, the Business Development Manager confirmed that the Department had promoted the Department's work to over 40 students with the assistance of MSParc recently and that work experience students were regularly accepted to learn more about what the Department was achieving.

The members expressed their thanks for the report.

RESOLVED

To accept the report, noting the observations received during the discussion.