Agenda item

The Leader to present the report, informing Cabinet that the council was required to report annually on its progress in complying with the Welsh Language Standards under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011. The report covered the fifth year of implementation, following the imposition of the majority of the council’s Welsh language standards in March 2016.

The report provided an overview of the Council’s progress in meeting the Welsh Language Standards, this included information required by law to be published on an annual basis, a summary of key achievements during the year and priority areas for future work

The Leader went through the highlights of the year, which included:

§  Positive work undertaken by the council’s Welsh Language Promotion Officer, focussed on engagement with key community stakeholders and the provision of support to schools and partners during the pandemic.

§  Promotion of key dates throughout the year, both internally and across communities, and sponsorship of the virtual G?yl Newydd Festival.

§  Establishment of a Representative Workforce group and action plan which included a focus on increasing the number of Welsh speakers across the organisation.

§  Establishment of a Welsh Language sub-group of the Right Skills Board, focussed on promoting a consistent approach to Welsh language skills development across the city and with key PSB partners.

§  Review of the council’s Welsh language performance management framework, to enable more effective monitoring of Welsh language compliance at service area and organisational level.

§  Commissioning a number of animated Welsh language training videos to be mandated for all staff which would be ready this summer.

The report also identified priorities for the next reporting period, this included:

§  Working with our refugee, migrant and minority ethnic communities to better embed Welsh language as part of a shared sense of identify across the city, particularly in the context of the development of our fourth Welsh medium school.

§  Improving and developing our Welsh Language Skills Policy, inclusive of our recording and monitoring of Welsh language skills in the workplace, and better using this data to inform strategic planning.

§  Undertaking engagement and consultation with key stakeholders and communities to inform the development of our new 5 year Welsh Language Strategy.

§  Adopting a number of Clear Cymraeg principles to better encourage staff to use Welsh in the workplace

The Leader invited the Cabinet Member for Communities and Resources and lead for Equalities and Welsh Language say a few words.

The Cabinet Member was pleased to see that the council still managed to make positive progress against our Welsh language commitments, despite a challenging year. Looking forward to this year, the Cabinet Member was confident that the development of our fourth Welsh language medium primary school would continue to strengthen work in this area and bring new opportunities to the city to embrace the Welsh language across all of our communities.

The Leader invited Councillor Hughes, the Welsh Language Champion also expressed his thanks in Welsh and English:

Hoffwnddechrau trwy gydnabod yn heriau unhogoel a wynebodd ein staff yn ddiwddar.

Rwyf am ddiolch I’r aelodau mewn timau Heather Powell, Rhys Cornwall ac hefyd Deborah Weston ac hefyd am yr arweiniaeth y maen nhw wedi dangos.

Hefydhoffwn cammol a diolch I’n holl staff sydd wedi ymuno a chyrsiau amrywiol I ddysgu neu wella eu sgilliau cymraeg-yn aml o’r dechrau.

Tra bod llawer o’n gwaith yn y cymuneb wedi cael ei ddal yn ol, rwyn filch o hysbysur arweinydd ein bod wedi cael cyfafrfod cadernhaol iawn ddoe a gynhawlwyd gan Dafydd Henry o Menter Iaith Casnewydd gyda tim dwyieithog Dinas Caerdydd.

Rhai o bethau sydd yn egluro a ddangos y cynnydd sy’n cael ei wneud yng ngasnewydd yw’r faith bod yr ddinas yn agor ii pedweryd ysgol cyfrwng cymraeg ac cylch meithryn yng nagaerleon ac gefyd bod Casnewydd yn dathlu gwyl Cymraeg-ac heddiw mae aelod y cabinet ac pencampwr y cymraeg y ddinasyn cyflwyno I’r cabinet yn yr iaith Cymraeg.

Rwynddiolchgar I’r arweinydd am y cyfle ac ei hymdrechion ei hun I hyrwyddo’r iaith yng Nhasnewydd.

I would like to begin by acknowledging the unprecedented challenges our staff have faced of late.

I would like to thank especially Heather Powell, Rhys Cornwall and Deborah Weston for their personal efforts and that of their team members who have supported myself and this administration in furthering and promoting the welsh language within our Council and throughout the city.

I would also like to thank all of our staff who have signed up for welsh language courses this year.

While much of our work has been held back this year because of covid restrictions within our communities there has been progress for sure.

I am happy to report to the cabinet and the leader that we had an immensely positive meeting yesterday hosted by Dafydd Henry at Menter Iaith Casnewydd with the Cardiff City Local Authority Billingual Team.

Few things have however shown the progress more within our city than the opening of our fourth welsh language medium school in September in Caerleon and the opening of a Cylch Meithrin in the same ward-something I could never have imagined when I moved here 27 years ago. The fact that the city has a welsh champion who is presenting his report in Welsh to cabinet is clear evidence of the progress being made under this administration-some would even say historic.

I am thankful to the leader for the opportunity and also for her own efforts and that of this administration in promoting the welsh language, culture and heritage and this is evident throughout this report.

Decision:

Cabinet approved the final monitoring report to be published on the Council’s website, in accordance with statutory deadlines.