Agenda item

To consider a report by the Welsh Language Officer (copy enclosed) updating members on the Welsh Language promotional activity since the last meeting and the outline plans for the year ahead.

Councillor Huw Hilditch-Roberts introduced the report (previously circulated) updating members on the Welsh language promotional activity since the last meeting and outline plans for the year ahead.

The Welsh Language Officer delivered a power point presentation elaborating upon a number of those activities which included –

·         Staff Eisteddfod – the Council held its third Eisteddfod between 15 February and 1 March as part of St. David’s Day celebrations.  Due to Covid-19 it was held digitally via the private staff facebook with various categories for staff to compete and staff voting for the winners.  The digital Eisteddfod proved very successful with 163 entries and over 700 votes cast

·         St David’s Day – the staff Eisteddfod was the main event to celebrate St. David’s Day but information was also shared on social media about St. David’s history, relevant useful Welsh vocabulary and phonetics to help Welsh learners together with interesting facts about the national symbols leeks and daffodils

·         Paned a Sgwrs – as most staff were now working from home the sessions had been held digitally and after a good start numbers had declined in recent months.  This had been due to the need for a screen break over lunchtime when the session was held.  The session time had since changed to 9.00 am and numbers had risen again in recent weeks and staff feedback had been positive

·         St Dwynwen’s Day – a quiz was created about the history of St. Dwynwen as part of the celebrations this year which was shared internally and externally on social media with over 30 people taking part.  A document of relevant Welsh vocabulary and phonetics was created for Welsh learners and a word search

·         Welsh language music day (Dydd Miwsig Cymru) – a playlist of Welsh songs was created to share with staff and the promotion of a new song for ‘Nerth dy ben’ campaign, ‘Byw I’r awr’ (Live for the hour) to remind each other of our strengths and courage.  It showed the positive effect of music on mental health. Most of the artists in the music video were former Ysgol Glan Clwyd pupils

·         Promotion of the Welsh language standards – documents/checklist had been created to promote Welsh language standards to share on Denbighshire Today, LINC, visiontime and staff facebook page and ensure compliance with standards

·         Vocabulary for meetings – to encourage the use of Welsh in meetings, including starting and finishing in Welsh, a useful vocabulary had been created shared on facebook together with recordings to hear the pronunciations

·         Pancake Day – a useful vocabulary of terms had been created for staff

·         Next steps: Proposed timetable of activity for 2021 – a table of planned activities each month throughout 2021 had been provided for consideration and further elaborated upon at the meeting.

At the close of the presentation the Corporate Director Communities paid tribute to the excellent work undertaken by the Welsh Language Officer in extremely difficult circumstances providing a range of engaging activities for staff in order to promote the Welsh language.  Those sentiments were echoed by the committee who thanked the Welsh Language Officer for all her hard work in that regard.

Members discussed various issues arising from the report in more detail –

·         Councillor Arwel Roberts suggested a press article be produced on the excellent work undertaken to promote the Welsh language for inclusion in the local Welsh newspapers, such as Papyr Bro.  The Welsh Language Officer agreed and also considered it a good way of promoting the council’s social media channels

·         the Welsh Language Officer responded to questions regarding staff induction confirming reference was made to the Welsh language standards as part of that process for new staff and that all staff were required to complete an e-module on Welsh language awareness which also included a section on the Welsh language standards together with the Welsh Language Commissioner and Welsh language strategy, so all the necessary information was made available

·         the Chair asked that a link to the Welsh vocabulary for meetings be shared with the chairs of all committees to encourage the use of Welsh in council meetings

·         Councillor Emrys Wynne asked that consideration be given to reviewing the situation in Denbighshire with regard to Welsh names given to topographical places and dwellings to ensure the Welsh language element was maintained.  It was agreed that Councillor Wynne complete a member proposal form on that topic for submission to the Scrutiny Chairs and Vice Chairs’ Group to determine how that matter should be progressed.

RESOLVED that the activity during 2020 be noted and the proposal for the 2021 promotional activity be approved.