Venue: Siambr Hywel Dda, Council Offices, Caernarfon, Gwynedd. LL55 1SH
Contact: Rhonwen Jones 01286 679780
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APOLOGIES To receive apologies for absence. Minutes: The Cabinet Members and officers were welcomed to the
meeting. Apologies were received from Councillor Elin Walker Jones |
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DECLARATION OF PERSONAL INTEREST To receive any declaration of personal interest Minutes: No declarations of personal
interest were received from any members present. |
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URGENT BUSINESS To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration Minutes: No urgent items were received. |
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The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 17 January 2019, be signed as a true record. Minutes: The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 17 January, 2019 as a true record. |
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CABINET MEMBER REPORT PDF 620 KB Give members an update on the main developments in respect of the Welsh Language. Minutes: The report was presented by the Cabinet Member for the Welsh
Language. It was explained
that two awards were annually awarded at the Council's Council at its Best
Ceremony, these were: ·
To
recognise an individual within the Council who was learning Welsh; and
secondly, ·
Individuals or teams who made a particular
effort, or went beyond their normal roles, to promote the Welsh language and
ensure that residents and service users were able to use Welsh without any
hindrance. This year's awards
were presented to Nancy Wilkinson (Environment Officer in Gwynedd Consultancy)
and the Health, Safety and Well-being Service (for their work of securing Welsh
language resources for 'The Institution of Occupational Safety and Health'
(IOSH) training. Two videos of the awards, featuring the winners
ceremony were shown at the end of the meeting. A member drew attention to item 5.4 (Other Developments),
Supplementary Planning Guidance. The
Cabinet Member suggested that she should arrange a meeting with the Member for
further discussion. Resolved: To accept the report. |
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PRAISE AND COMPLAINTS REPORT PDF 490 KB Present the latest information about complaints and instances of good practice to the members. Minutes: The report was presented by the Language Development
Officer, and noted that it examined complaints and praise in parallel, in order
to identify trends and to provide members with a comprehensive picture of
activities within the Council relating to compliance with the Language
Standards and Policy. Praise The report drew attention to two specific cases over recent
months where Council officers had excelled in promoting the Welsh language and
ensuring that residents and service users received a high-quality Welsh medium
service: 1. Safety training (IOSH): The Health, Safety and Well-being
Service had recently received recognition at the Council at its Best Awards for
its work in ensuring that IOSH training was fully available through the medium
of Welsh. Council staff members had been leading training sessions in this
field for some time, but were having to use English only materials as they were
not provided bilingually by the chartered body.
The mater had been referred to the Welsh language Commissioner to get
their support and influence, but in the end it came down to the perseverance of
the Council's officers, who raised awareness of the requirements and demand from staff for Welsh
language materials. 2. New
online forms for Blue Badge applications from direct.gov It was noted that the Siop Gwynedd and Galw Gwynedd Manager and her officers had recently been
working hard to try to ensure that the new on-line forms for Blue Badges met
the requirements of the Standards and the Council's policies. The team had
noticed numerous mistakes and errors in the Welsh version while testing the
system (before it went live), and the Council had refused to transfer to the
new on-line system without changes being made to ensure that it reached the
expected standard. They had collaborated with the translation unit and the
website team to test the system, and had raised the matter with the provider,
including Welsh Government. Discussions
were ongoing and the system was still not operational. Complaints Since the beginning
of 2019, correspondence had been received from the Welsh Language Commissioner
about three complaints relating to the Language Standards. The Commissioner
decided not to investigate the complaints further based on the explanations
below: 1. Standard email sent in English only in a
response to an e-mail in Welsh from GwE.
The investigation was terminated after the Commissioner received
correspondence from the Council's Legal unit, confirming that the Council's
Standards were not relevant to GwE due to its status as a joint committee. 2. English only receipt sent by the Welsh
Penalty Processing Partnership. It was
explained that this had happened due to a technical error after the
administrators had made updates to the payment system. The matter had already
been bought to the attention of the Council and had been resolved by the time
the complaint was received by the Commissioner, and the Commissioner agreed
that the Council had already dealt with the matter appropriately. 3. Blue Badge application assessment and processing Service. The Council confirmed that this was a ... view the full minutes text for item 6. |
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HUNANIAITH - GWYNEDD'S LANGUAGE INITIATIVE PDF 885 KB This report is submitted in order to provide a background to Committee members about the existing work and priorities of the initiative. Minutes: In response to a
request, the Chair presented an update on Hunaniaith's
work, outlining the successes, lessons learnt; he also took the opportunity to
raise Members' awareness of this work. Overview of 2018-19
work It was reported that 2018-19 had been a good
year in terms of developing key partnerships, such as Cymraeg
for Kids, and Llandrillo Menai Group, and that it
appeared that investing time to jointly plan and collaborate was paying
dividends. Additionally, it was noted that collaboration
across the Language Initiatives as a whole had also developed further, with
Welsh Language Initiatives (the umbrella organisation that supported the work
of the initiatives across Wales) leading on many national projects. There would also be opportunities for further
collaboration between the North Wales region language initiatives in future. Two presentations were made by the
Language Officers: Early Years It was explained
that seminars had been held to equip the early years
workforce and activity providers with the knowledge to enable them to convey
the message about the value of bilingualism to families. It was noted that the feedback from the
seminars had been extremely positive, and although it had not been possible to
attract some of the targeted businesses and organisations that provided family
activities, the officer felt that the events had been successful. Collaboration
would continue with Cymraeg for Kids and the
Council's Early Years Service on similar events in
future. Targeting Young
People aged 15+: A conference had
been held for young people to discuss the value of the Welsh language as a
skill for the workplace, and to introduce best practice and role models from
professional and occupational areas. The
conference's aim was to encourage young people to consider their career
choices, and to pay particular attention to the Welsh language as part of those
options. The conference had
been arranged jointly with officers from Llandrillo
Menai Group, with specific focus on students from Llandrillo
Menai Group in the sectors of Construction, Hair and Beauty, and Hospitality
and Tourism. The feedback had been positive, and it was agreed that the content
of the sessions was beneficial and appropriate, although some changes were
needed, such as simplifying the terminology and including fewer open-ended
questions, in order to facilitate participation and discussion. A series of
evaluation meetings were held following the events, and the officers agreed
that the conference had been a success in relation to arrangements and content,
although some refinements and minor changes would be needed if similar events
were held in future. One concern
expressed was the difficulties in attracting interest and the commitment of the
group's tutors. Members expressed
their disappointment regarding this, and noted their desire to pursue it
further. The Gwynedd Language
Development Officer noted that she would write formally to Llandrillo
Menai Group to share the feedback on the conference evaluation to share the
concerns. A committee member
expressed a willingness to write a letter on behalf of the committee to Llandrillo Menai Group. The proposal was
accepted. Members were given ... view the full minutes text for item 7. |
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LANGUAGE COMMITTEE MEETINGS PDF 55 KB The aim of the report is to consider the number of ordinary meetings of the Committee which are held during the municipal year. Minutes: Submitted - the
Democracy and Language Manager's report, seeking the views of Committee Members
on the frequency and number of Committee meetings each year. Members were of the
opinion that the current number of meetings should be retained, and the
importance of the Welsh language to all should be noted. RESOLVED: To continue with the current arrangements of holding four
committee meetings each year. |