Issue - meetings

As detailed in the recommendations.

Councillor Mullin introduced the Welsh Language Annual Monitoring Report 2019/20 report which provided an overview of progress in complying with the Welsh Language Standards and identified areas in which to progress and improve.      

The Policy Development Officer – Equalities explained that the Council had a statutory duty to publish an annual report setting out how it had met the Welsh Language Standards (WLS).  The Standards which the Council had to comply with were set out in a Compliance Notice.  They were unique to each organisation and specified what the organisations were expected to implement in Welsh and by when they were required to comply.

There had been some outstanding areas of achievement promoting the Welsh language which were outlined in the report.  There were also three areas outlined in the report where issues remained as areas in which to progress and improve.

There had been two complaints about Welsh language during 2019/20, compared to six in 2018/19.  The Welsh Language Commissioner decided not to investigate either of the two complaints as the Council had already taken actions to rectify the error.

Next steps were identified as:

·         A mid-year report on the areas in which to progress and improve would be submitted to Cabinet;

·         Workforce communications would be published to increase the number of employees who completed the Welsh language awareness e-learning module;

·         Regular communications regarding compliance with and celebration of the Welsh Language Standards would be shared with the workforce; and

·         Work with the Welsh Language Network to reduce the number of employees who reported that they did not have any Welsh language skills.

Councillor Bithell asked which languages the document was produced in, and was advised English and Welsh.  If a request was made for it be available in another language that would be provided upon request.  He commented that it was important for County Councillors to also attend e-learning modules.

Councillor Carver, as Chair of Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee made the following comment:

“My view is that the annual report 2019/20 should be approved.  There is however a minor omission; in that within the 2018/19 annual report, reference was made to their having been three complaints referred to the Welsh Language Commissioner of which two were dealt with. At the time of the report, the third complaint was still being investigated by the Welsh Language Commissioner. The 2019/20 Report however, does not refer to the outcome of that third complaint of 2018/19”.  The Policy Development Officer – Equalities explained that a judgement had been reached and a breach was the outcome and related to a contractor.

RESOLVED:

(a)       That the areas in which to progress and improved be noted, and a mid-year report on progress be built into the Forward Work Programme;

(b)       That the publication of the report on the Council’s website be approved; and

(c)        That the Welsh Language Annual Report be included on the forward work programme of Corporate Resources Overview and Scrutiny Committee.