Agenda item

To consider a report by the Team Leader – Communications and Campaign Management (copy enclosed) updating members on progress made with the Welsh Language Standards.

The Team Leader – Communications and Campaign Management submitted a report (previously circulated) updating members on progress made with the Welsh Language Standards (WLS).

The WLS were introduced in Denbighshire in 2015 as part of a roll out to public sector organisations in Wales and were created in direct response to creation of the Welsh Language Bill and role of the Welsh Language Commissioner.  Denbighshire was required to comply with 167 WLS covering five key areas – Service Delivery; Policy Making; Operational; Record Keeping and Promotional.  The aim was to ensure that the Welsh language was treated as fairly as the English language in order to provide the best possible service to the public in the language of their choice.  Much work had been undertaken prior to the introduction of the WLS and some standards were not new to the Council – the response from services had been favourable in terms of ensuring compliance and the Council did conform in the vast majority of cases.  However further work was needed around promoting the availability of meetings in Welsh and the rights of individuals invited to meetings to contribute in Welsh as some staff were unfamiliar with that requirement – this would be addressed over the coming weeks through proactive communications.  The Council would continue to promote messages about the WLS to ensure the high level of compliance continued.

The following issues were raised during the ensuing discussion –

·         the committee was pleased to note the high level of compliance in the majority of cases and acknowledged the action taken to address areas of non-compliance as they arose through a managed action plan and proactive messages – the work of the Corporate Communications Team in that regard was acknowledged together with the support provided by the Welsh Language Champions.  Officers also acknowledged the underlying support of members and clear mandate issued by the Council to comply with the WLS

·         some discrepancy was noted between the Welsh and English versions of the WLS in terms of numbering and the inclusion of Standard Number 29a in the Welsh version relating to provision of a simultaneous translation service from English to Welsh which did not appear in the English version – officers agreed to investigate the discrepancy with a view to confirming the requirement in that regard and ensure consistency between both Welsh and English versions

·         members reported upon their own experiences of compliance/non-compliance when interacting with the Council and difficulties experienced when using Welsh email addresses.  Members were encouraged to report any issues of non-compliance and officers elaborated on measures already introduced to facilitate staff compliance with particular standards including the distribution of templates to use and phonetic bilingual greeting cards, etc.  However it was accepted that there was always likely to be isolated cases and reluctant staff should be encouraged to aid a positive response in conforming to the standards; continuing to routinely use Welsh would help to further develop the language

·         officers confirmed that once the new Welsh Language Commissioner had taken up the post he would be invited to attend a meeting of the committee

·         in terms of the issue highlighted regarding promoting the availability of meetings in Welsh officers confirmed that the option should be proactively offered and staff needed to think ahead when organising meetings in order to meet the requirement – this option was routinely offered for public meetings

·         it was noted that different local authorities and public sector organisations were subject to different WLS which would only change if the Welsh Language Commissioner revisited those standards or if there was a change in the law

·         officers clarified that Denbighshire’s WLS did not extend to schools and it would be up to the individual Governing Bodies as to whether or not to adopt them

·         the Council’s street naming and numbering policy would be reviewed by Performance Scrutiny Committee on 21 March 2019.

RESOLVED that the report be received and the proposed actions to address issues as highlighted in the report be agreed.