Agenda item

The Leader introduced the report and welcomed the Champion for the Welsh Language, Cllr Jason Hughes.

The report confirmed the introduction of Welsh Language Standards in 2016 had challenged Newport City Council to deliver entirely bilingual public services. The annual report reflects the positive distance that the Council has travelled to reach this objective.

It is clear that staff understand and respect the obligations that the public sector have with regard to the Welsh Language. The cultural shift that has taken place within the Authority over the past few years is undeniable and has helped ensure that consideration of the Welsh Language is given at the earliest opportunity, resulting in services that work just as well in Welsh as they do in English. 

Indeed, the Leader confirmed that as the City continues to evolve, it is clear that Welsh will be an important part of that evolution, and she was pleased to say the report suggests that the Council’s services are matching the pace of change. 

The Cabinet Member for Equalities and Assets commented further on the report and confirmed the annual report has been prepared in accordance with Welsh Language Standards 158, 164 and 170.

The report suggests that the Authority is broadly compliant with the Welsh Language Standards it is subject to.  However there do remain issues with a number of ‘legacy systems’ that were procured before 2016 and do not have bilingual functionality.

The Cabinet Member highlighted low levels of staff engagement with Welsh Language courses and Welsh Language awareness courses and confirmed this will be improved upon in the 2019/2020 financial year.

The report also identified a number of other actions which will help the Council keep pace in 2019/20, namely:

·         Work on developing and promoting the update to the Fairness and Equality Impact Assessment (FEIA) process;

·         Greater promotion of the Council’s Welsh Language Services;

·         Enhanced partnership working across Welsh Language Forum Members in line with the Welsh Language Strategy;

·         Develop the intranet to include Welsh Language Guidance around compliance with the Welsh Language Standards.

The Cabinet Member was pleased at the development of Welsh within the Authority over the past few years.  The report confirmed that progress, whilst highlighting some of the areas where there is a need to continue to improve, also highlighted the work that has been done to date in line with the Welsh Language Strategic Plan.

The Authority’s ‘Benefits of Bilingualism’ Campaign, which was agreed in the Strategy, and some of the timely work that is happening in promoting Welsh to under-represented communities, is a good example of the innovative work the Council is capable of achieving.

The report suggested that if the pace on the momentum for change continues, the Council will not only deliver quality services to the people of Newport in either language, but will also ensure it plays an active role in helping meet the Welsh Government’s target of a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

Decision:

Cabinet approved the report and agreed for officers to publish the final Monitoring Report on the Council’s Website.