Agenda and minutes

Cllrs P Bright and L James

None.

The Committee member who had made the previous referral regarding Levelling Up Bids asked that that their disappointment towards lack of attendance by the Head of Regeneration and Democratic Services and Electoral Register Manager to answer questions regarding the referral be recorded.

The Committee noted the vote tally was wrong on the last agenda item.

The Committee asked for an update in relation to the university being contacted to question why there has been a reduced student number.

·       The Scrutiny Advisor informed Committee that the university already produced monthly reports on student numbers which could be obtained for the Committee as a first point of information.

The Committee asked if the other members were content with the officer’s work at getting a response.

·       The Committee feels they were happy with the officers’ actions.

·       The Committee will ask the strategic director to hasten a response.

The Committee noted a recommendation to make training courses simpler.

·       The Committee noted that this was given an adequate response that due to NCC not providing the courses they can’t control the functionality.

The Scrutiny Advisor noted recommendations are made in good faith but do not have to be implemented as they are only recommendations.

·       The Committee asked for this could be passed on to the Chief Executive for response regarding recommendations and who is responsible for monitoring them, implementation or otherwise.

·       The Scrutiny Advisor informed Committee a more robust outcomes monitoring system could be explored.

The minutes of the previous meeting held 2^nd June 2023 were accepted as a true and accurate record.

The report was presented by the Head of People, Policy, and Transformation, the Policy and Partnership Manager and the Welsh Language Officer.

Questions:

The Committee would have liked the report presented earlier in the scrutiny calendar due to its timeframes.

·       The Head of People, Policy and Transformation noted that it was the first report published and would be tricky to get it published any earlier in the municipal year.

The Committee felt that the report did not present the achievements of the previous 12 months as efficiently as could have been done, and noted the target of having 1 million Welsh speakers in Wales by 2050. The Committee felt that more information in the “going forward” section of the report, and more information about the promotion of the Welsh language could be included.

The Committee asked how Newport compared to other councils within Gwent and across Wales.

·       The Head of People, Policy and Transformation noted the disappointment expressed and highlighted that the layout of the report has been styled from prior feedback about bringing the report to life to how they are working against their plan,

·       The Head of People, Policy and Transformation informed Committee that information from other Local Authorities was not yet available to compare but agreed that comparing against Gwent would be beneficial.

·       The Policy and Partnership Manager highlighted that the report has more of a lively feel due to feedback from last year.

·       The Policy and Partnership Manager Highlighted for 6 months there was no Welsh Language Policy Officer but now one was in place who was dedicated to pursuing opportunities and making use of funding.

·       The Head of People, Policy and Transformation noted that they will pursue all opportunities for funding regardless of the term of funding as it all benefits Newport and its residents.

The Committee whether the Welsh Language Officer felt that meaningful change could occur as a result of their work.

·       The Welsh Language Officer felt that developing partnerships and taking all opportunities would result in meaningful change.

The Committee asked for more data to be included to demonstrate the strategy’s successes or challenges. The Committee accepted that the report shouldn’t just be data. The Committee also asked for a breakdown of the types of children in Welsh medium schools to highlight if there were any groups missing the opportunity.

·       The Policy and Partnership Manager agreed that they could speak to Education services to include the data but typically WESP data was presented separately in Service Area Plans and Mid and End of Year reports.

·       The Committee would like the figures to see if the perception is wrong.

·       The Policy and Partnership Manager challenged the perception of only middle class children learning Welsh and highlighted the importance of challenging and changing this perception to benefit the residents of Newport.

The Committee congratulated Officers on only receiving 5 complaints in the year relating to Welsh Language. The Committee expressed that they liked the reporting format and that it was clear and concise but  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

a)      Actions Arising (Appendix 1)

b)      Forward Work Programme (Appendix 2)

The Scrutiny Advisor highlighted that the meeting scheduled on the 29^th September 2023 had been rescheduled to the 9^th October 2023.

The date of the next meeting was confirmed to be 28^th July 2023 at 10am.

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The recording of the meeting can be watched here.