Agenda item

To consider the report.

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

·       To request that the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Legal Services and the Welsh Language corresponds on behalf of the Committee with the General Registration Office, to state dissatisfaction that it is not possible to register in the Welsh language and ask them to put steps in place to change this. 

The report was submitted by the Democracy and Language Service Manager in the absence of the Head of Department. They referred briefly to the following main points:

A reminder was given that the Department contributed to the work of developing policies, strategies and projects which promoted the use of Welsh in work areas, services, communities and workforce development as a part of the Welsh Language Strategy 2023-2033.

It was noted that the department had integrated the Welsh language into key policies and continued to do so. It was confirmed that emphasis was placed on ensuring that services for the public and staff were available bilingually, with Welsh prioritised in phone systems, websites, social media, training and internal communications. It was elaborated that research provided evidence to steer decisions, and that specific projects promoted the use of Welsh amongst young people, businesses and communities.

Pride was expressed that the workforce's language skills was a priority for the Department, noting that there were training plans, support for apprentices and projects to teach Welsh to the workforce, with further support provided to those individuals who worked within the care field. It was confirmed that enterprises were in place which focused on increasing staff confidence in using the Welsh language. Attention was drawn to the fact that the report evidenced the high language skill levels of the Corporate Support Department.

It was acknowledged that the Department faced challenges and barriers when providing and promoting Welsh-medium services. Reference was made to some specific challenges such as the lack of a Welsh-medium provision by some key partners such as the police and the WLGA, national procurement and tendering systems which did not support the Welsh language adequately and social media technology. Specific attention was drawn to a barrier within the field of birth and death registration, noting that legislative restrictions restricted the ability to be able to complete a registration in Welsh only.

It was noted that the Department intended within the next year, to develop a guide to assess the impact on the Welsh language so that staff use it on major projects. It was also noted that other plans included Welsh Technology training promotion and raising staff awareness of the offer available to assist them. It was emphasised that the work in the language training field continued and that the Department also continued to collaborate with the General Registration Office to improve the Welsh provision offered.

During the discussion, the following observations were made: 

Attention was drawn to the fact that Galw Gwynedd systems ask service users whether they want to continue to use Welsh services on many occasions, although the user had already noted their language of choice. In response to the enquiry, the Senior Language and Scrutiny Advisor noted that the Officers were not aware that this question was being asked, and she confirmed that they would hold discussions with the service to ensure that this will not happen in the future.

In response to an enquiry about whether customer mobility assessments for receiving Blue Badges was completed in Welsh until the customer asks for an English assessment, the Senior Language and Scrutiny Advisor confirmed that the Welsh language was used first, until the customers noted that their language of choice was English.

In response to an enquiry, the Senior Language and Scrutiny Adviser confirmed that the Office for National Statistics now continued with the census and confirmed that another census was in the pipeline. It was noted that this census was in a consultation period at present. It was confirmed that the Council had provided input to that consultation, asking the Office for National Statistics to ensure that more questions relating to the Welsh language were being asked.

Reference was made to the 'language use survey pilot' which showed that 71.8% of the sample observed chose Welsh-medium services when using some of the Council's front-line services. In response to a question about whether there were plans in the pipeline to expand this pilot, the Senior Language and Scrutiny Advisor confirmed that it was hoped that this would happen. It was also reiterated that new interventions were operational as a result of the survey, such as the development of simple posters, with a spoken feel, to encourage people to use their Welsh language skills. It was noted that work was progressing in an attempt to simplify the language being used, such as in forms on the Council's website to promote the use of Welsh. Attention was drawn to the fact that the number of people who used the Welsh language in leisure centres and libraries was higher than users at the Galw Gwynedd call centre, and therefore, further research would be carried out to address this. It was emphasised that there was a need to ensure that attention was given to digital aspects of this work, as more Council services were becoming digital over time. Pride was expressed that this survey evidenced that Council staff were proactive with the Welsh language. The Democracy and Language Service Manager elaborated that the long-term Clear Communication project addressed some of these matters, as it looked at Council services to see whether they could be adapted to communicate effectively and clearly without degrading the language or services.

Concern was expressed that challenges remained with the General Registration Office to improve the Welsh provision. A request was made to the Cabinet Member for Corporate Services, Legal and Welsh Language to correspond with the Office on behalf of the Committee, to express this discontent and ask them to put steps in place for this in the future by adding a Welsh-medium provision.

The members expressed their thanks for the report.

RESOLVED

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

•  To request that the Cabinet Member for Corporate and Legal Services and the Welsh Language corresponds with the General Registration Office on behalf of the Committee, to express discontent that it is not possible to register in Welsh and ask them to put steps in place to change this.