Agenda item

The Leader presented the document, highlighting that the Council was required to provide an annual progress report in compliance with the Welsh Language Standards under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011. This report provided a summary of key achievements during the year, and priority areas for future work.  These were:

§  Working with 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 primary school.

§  Improved, developed, and began to deliver a new Welsh Language Skills Policy. Processes were implemented to allow delivery next year. 

§  Engaged and consulted with key stakeholders and our communities to inform the development of our new five-year Welsh Language Strategy which was passed with the full support of Council.

§  Developed creative partnership arrangements outside of the public and voluntary sector to raise the profile of the Welsh language across Newport. This included working with the Dragons Rugby and Newport County AFC to promote the Welsh language.

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

§  Working with stakeholders and partners to deliver the new five-year Welsh Language Strategy and embed a performance monitoring framework to assess delivery of objectives.

§  Further engagement with Newport’s diverse communities to promote the Welsh language, raise awareness and visibility of the language, and continue to develop Welsh medium education and the inclusivity of the language.

§  Embed our new performance management structure across the council

§  Roll out our newly developed Welsh language training videos to all staff

§  Continue to scope and consider Welsh language courses for lapsed speakers, or those that need a confidence boost

Comments from councillors:

Councillor Al-Nuaimi endorsed the report, which should be supported by all members and was very proud to see the difference achieved over the years.  Interesting discussion took place in Scrutiny and Councillor Al-Nuaimi wanted to point out two things.  Councillor Al-Nuaimi firstly thanked the Chief Education Officer for her clarification with regard to the surplus places in nurseries with a plan in place to promote Welsh in early years education.  Secondly it was an ambitious target set by WG to have one million Welsh Speakers by the year 2050, regular reports should progress this yearly to achieve this target and how it was achieved.

Councillor Davies was aware that Education Officers were grateful for the support provide by the Welsh Language Officer and that Newport City Council had very positive feedback from WG.  Councillor Davies wanted to therefore convey her thanks for this.

Councillor Hughes conveyed his thanks in Welsh:

Fel yr Hyrwyddwr Aelod Etholedig dros y Gymraeg am y llynedd rwy'n falch o gefnogi gwaith ein swyddogion wrth hyrwyddo'r Gymraeg ac wrth godi proffil y Gymraeg o fewn y cyngor ac ar draws ein cymunedau.

Drwy fod yn rhan o'r broses Grant Cymraeg yn y Gymuned roedd yn arbennig o galonogol gweld faint o ddiddordeb a cheisiadau eithriadol gan grwpiau cymunedol ledled Casnewydd i gynyddu'r defnydd o'r Gymraeg, ei hymwybyddiaeth a'i gwelededd ar draws holl ddinasyddion Casnewydd gan gynnwys y rhai sy'n newydd i’r Ddinas a Chymru.

Mae'r adroddiad yn tynnu sylw at rai meysydd o gynnydd gwirioneddol ynghyd â rhai blaenoriaethau allweddol ar gyfer y flwyddyn nesaf a thu hwnt ac edrychaf ymlaen at weld sut mae'r Gymraeg yn cael ei chroesawu gan holl ddinasyddion Casnewydd, a sut mae ein gweledigaeth o 'Gweld, Clywed, Dysgu, Defnyddio, Caru' yn cefnogi'r Gymraeg fel iaith fyw ym mhob rhan o fywyd ar draws y Ddinas.

In English

‘As Elected Member Champion for Welsh language for last year I am proud to support the work of our officers in promoting the Welsh language and in raising the profile of Welsh within the council and across our communities.

Through being involved with the Welsh in the Community Grant process it was especially encouraging to see the amount of interest and exceptional applications from community groups across Newport to increase the use, awareness, and visibility of the Welsh language across all Newport citizens including those new to the City and Wales.

The report highlights some areas of real progress along with some key priorities for the next year and beyond and I look forward to seeing how the Welsh Language is embraced across all Newport citizens, and how our vision of ‘See, Hear, Learn, Use, Love’ supports Welsh as a living language in all parts of life across the city.

Sylwadau Cabinet y Cynghorydd Hughes

Councillor Hourahine reminded colleagues that this was a retrospective report that went to scrutiny and the next report would show a lot more progress that has taken place.

Councillor Batrouni, the new lead for Equalities and Welsh Language agreed with M Al-Nuaimi’s comments as well as thanking Councillor Hourahine for his comments.  Councillor Batrouni informed colleagues that 20% of people spoke Welsh in Newport with a 3% increase over the last two years, which meant that Newport City Council would fall short of the 2050 target as raised by Councillor Al-Nuaimi and assured Council that this would be monitored closely and reported yearly. The pandemic however dampened the ability for people to take up Welsh.

Resolved:

That Council approved the attached final monitoring report and agreed to publish it on the Council’s website, in accordance with statutory deadlines.