Agenda and minutes

To receive apologies for absence.

Apologies were received from Councillor Charles Wyn Jones.

To receive any declaration of personal interest

No declarations of personal interest were received from any members present.

To note any items that are a matter of urgency in the view of the Chairman for consideration

No urgent items were received.

The Chairman shall propose that the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 7^th November, 2019 be signed as a true record  (attached)

The Chair signed the minutes of the previous meeting of this committee held on 7 November 2019 as a true record, subject to amending the second sentence of the penultimate paragraph under item 4 - Minutes (9 July 2019) to read as follows:

"Resolved that the letter* sent should be reviewed at the next meeting."

[*a letter from the Workplace Language Development Officer to Grŵp Llandrillo Menai regarding engaging the interest and commitment of the Group's tutors in the conference organised for young people to discuss the value of the Welsh language as a skill for the workplace.]

It was also asked where on the agenda the letter appeared.  In response, the Chair confirmed that the letter had been sent, and should members wish to receive a copy, that this could be arranged.  She was not aware that a reply to the letter had been received as yet.

With reference to item 5 of the minutes - Arfor Programme, the Chair noted that a letter had been sent to the Minister for International Relations and the Welsh Language, in accordance with the committee's request, asking for the Government's commitment to the scheme.  An automatic reply to the letter had been received, but a full response had not been received thus far.

To receive a presentation by the Welsh Language Commissioner on his work.

Aled Roberts, the Welsh Language Commissioner was welcomed to the meeting to give members a presentation on his work.

The Commissioner gave an outline of what he regarded as the purpose of his role, focusing on his impressions of the Welsh language's situation across Wales.  The following key points were highlighted during his presentation:

·         That he was very keen to know what challenges faced this Council and to see what support his office could provide.

·         That after embarking on his job in April 2019, he had travelled the length and breadth of Wales for six months in an attempt to fully comprehend the actual situation of the Welsh language, and that he had realised that the situation varied greatly from one part of Wales to another, with some parts making him feel hopeful and others dampening his spirits at times.

·         That Gwynedd Council's internal Welsh-language administration and some of its policies were to be commended and that there was room perhaps to disseminate this good practice across Wales.

·         Although the 2050 Welsh Language Strategy was the responsibility of the Welsh Government, that there was room for him too, as Commissioner, to ensure that the powers he possessed reinforced that strategy.

·         That the priorities of the Office of the Commissioner in the first few years in terms of the standards and in terms of local authorities had been to ensure that documents and services were available bilingually, but nowadays local authorities were expected to self-regulate to some extent.

·         That there were much more important standards than these regarding the future of the language, namely the standards involving the need for the Welsh Government and local government to assess the impact of various policies on the Welsh language and standards involving internal administration.  

·         That he was also very eager to do more work on promotion plans, as the only requirement on councils at present was that they prepare a plan every five years, and there was no reference to monitoring nor challenging those plans.  Therefore, he wished the Office to consider the content of the Gwynedd Promotion Plan.

·         That the duties of the Office were shared between regulatory responsibilities and promotion responsibilities.  The act required that the Office accomplishes the regulatory responsibilities, but as those responsibilities increase, and resources diminish, it becomes increasingly difficult to undertake promotion work.  Therefore, it had to be ensured somehow that resources are released internally to enable the Office to undertake more promotion work.

·         Despite his agreement with every point in the Gwynedd Promotion Plan, that there was room to ask how successful the Council was in terms of its objective, e.g. in relation to the childcare sufficiency assessment, approximately 40% of placements were within bilingual situations, but there was no definition of 'bilingual situation'. 

·         That the situation of the Welsh language varied greatly across Gwynedd and that he had not realised before that some areas of the county were so Anglicised.  He referred specifically to the excellent work being done by the head of Ysgol Bro  ...  view the full minutes text for item 5.

To consider the report of the Education Corporate Services Officer  (attached).

Submitted - the report of the Education Corporate Services Manager inviting the committee to consider the content of the annual review report and offer observations.

Further to the content of the report and to the Welsh Language Commissioner's presentation (item 5 above), the Head of Education noted:

·         That he agreed in full that the provision in schools in relation to category 2A had been a weakness in the past, but since the advent of the Secondary Sector Language Strategy in Gwynedd, the Authority now had a clear indication of the situation in every school.  This information was vital in order to draw up a purposeful plan for all the different linguistic situations in each school in order to strengthen not only the social use element but also to influence the language curriculum.

·         He could not overemphasise the extent to which the Department took pride in the fact that it could provide the entire range of services to the most vulnerable learners through the medium of Welsh (outcome 6) and that this was a credit to the staff and to the Council's vision and the investment made in this field.

·         That the Minister for Education had congratulated Gwynedd on the way the Council had established a different education system in Dolgellau, which meant that the Welshness of the primary schools permeated Ysgol Bro Idris.  He also noted that he wished to congratulate the Headteacher and staff and governors on their work in promoting, insisting and ensuring that the Welsh language holds its ground at the school.

·         That the Headteacher of Ysgol Uwchradd Tywyn also had a strong vision.  As with Bro Idris, Tywyn again was an uphill struggle in terms of having a positive influence in relation to the Welsh language, but the way in which the school had adopted the plan for the Secondary Sector Language Strategy had received national attention and provided a way forward for any other institution.

·         That significant green shoots of change had also been witnessed at Ysgol Friars, with the number sitting Welsh First Language on the increase.

·         That the percentage of children coming into the foundation phase from non-Welsh-speaking homes was on the increase.  A decline in children's social skills was also a factor, with children starting the foundation phase without communication skills in any language, and the fact that almost all of them were assessed through the medium of Welsh at the end of year 2 was testament to the success of the foundation phase in Gwynedd. 

·         That it was believed that major steps forward were also being taken in the secondary sector as a result of the fact that Gwynedd had the first Secondary Sector Language Strategy in terms of promoting the Welsh language in Wales.

·         That the success of the Primary Schools Welsh Language Charter had now spread throughout Wales as a result of Gwynedd primary schools' vision in adopting it in 2011.

·         That Estyn was now, for the first time, measuring to what extent schools gauged children's informal use of  ...  view the full minutes text for item 6.

To consider the report of the Cabinet Member  (attached).

Submitted - a report by the Cabinet Member providing an update on the key developments in the Welsh language field since the previous committee meeting.

As time did not allow giving full consideration to the report and that the Cabinet Member had to leave the meeting at this point, members were invited to get in touch regarding any questions about the report.

RESOLVED to accept the report.

To receive a presentation by the Business Support Officer.

The Business Support Officer provided a presentation on the mental health provision through the medium of Welsh, arising from her research work for her master's degree. 

          The Chair thanked the officer for the presentation, emphasising that the conclusions of the research work prove the linguistic need for this provision. 

RESOLVED to agree with the conclusions of the research work and to invite the Business Support Officer to conduct a workshop on this subject with all Council members because the presentation contains such a wealth of information, information which is relevant to all, and because the officer had to rush through her presentation, time being so short.

To consider the report of the Health and Community Care Transformation Programme Leader (Gwynedd and Anglesey)  (attached).

RESOLVED to defer the item until the next meeting as time did not now allow the report to be given balanced consideration, and also because the report's author, namely the Health and Community Care Transformation Programme Leader (Gwynedd and Anglesey) was unable to attend this meeting.

To consider the report of the Language Advisor  (attached).

Submitted - the Language Adviser's report presenting the latest information to the committee on complaints and examples of success in promoting the use of the Welsh language within Council services.

The Language Adviser explained that several of the complaints dated from a period before the last meeting, but that they were not reported on previously as they had not been resolved at the time.

A member noted that he welcomed receiving these complaints as they provided an indication of what was happening at grassroots level.

As time did not allow giving full consideration to the report, members were invited to get in touch regarding any questions.

RESOLVED to accept the report.