To submit
the report of the Cabinet Member for Corporate Support (attached).
Minutes:
The Cabinet Member
for Corporate Support, Councillor Nia Jeffreys, presented a report recommending
that the Council accept the Welsh Language Promotion Plan for Gwynedd 2018-2023
and the associated action plan and to approve commencing the action.
The following points
by individual members were raised:-
·
It was noted that it was this Council that led and pioneered in terms of
the Welsh language and that pride should be taken in this strategy which was
one of the Council's priorities.
·
Though the Council pioneered in terms of the Primary Language Charter
and the Secondary Sector Language Strategy, that there was a gap in terms of
the post-compulsory education and that it was important that the Council
collaborated with its partners in that respect also.
·
Given the substantial
contribution of some of the Council's partners to the success of specific
elements of the strategy, it was asked what part those partners played in the
consultation and how it was intended to collaborate with them to deliver the
strategy. In response, it was noted that
the Local Services Board was an important part of this and that the Leader and
Chief Executive were bound to push this forward. It was also noted that conversations had
already been held with some of the partners who had responded directly to the
consultation in order to see what to include on the work programme. Further discussions would be held with some
partners and the aim was to establish one group which would bring all partners
together as a starting point to discuss the strategy and the work programme in
its entirety and then break it down to the thematic fields and bring the
specific partners in.
·
It was noted that the
document was mediocre, which met the Council's requirement to provide such a
plan and noting what was expected by a council operating in the most naturally
Welsh area in the world. However, due to the demographic certainty that Gwynedd
enjoyed, it was easy to fall into a condition of self-righteousness which,
unfortunately, filled the pages of the document and that passion, desire and
aspiration were needed to get things done. It was added that the changes in the
Council over the recent years had not always given priority to the Welsh
language, e.g. during the last year, the Council had adopted planning policies
which, if implemented, would undermine our Welsh-speaking communities. It had
also closed youth clubs, transferred the leisure centres to an arm's length
company and adopted an economic plan, key fields which should be central to
this plan if the Welsh language was to be normalised in this county. It was
further noted that, of the £52m allocated recently by Welsh Government towards
Welsh education, only a little over £1m had come to Gwynedd, which was
approximately 2% of the total, and that was because the bid submitted to the
Government was for only 2%. If the Council had the desire and vision to make
the Welsh language essential in Gwynedd, we would have submitted bids worth
£20m at least, and though many of those plans would likely have been refused,
the action in itself would have sent a message to the Government that Gwynedd
did not want to avoid giving the priority to our language that it deserved. An
opportunity which we could little afford to lose had been lost due to a lack of
desire, a lack of aspiration and a lack of ambition. It was also believed that the plan missed an
opportunity. Time after time, there was reference to giving language choice
to school pupils, but that wasn't what was happening in the Basque Country,
Catalonia or parts of Ireland.
Unfortunately, at present, a third of Welsh-speaking pupils in Gwynedd
were sitting their GCSEs through the medium of English and that had a direct
impact on the county's bilingual education policy. Though Welsh education was
growing in several parts of Wales, this did not appear to be true of Gwynedd.
It was understood that not one secondary school in Gwynedd had received any of
the Welsh text books provided by the Government, though these books were being
used extensively in several other areas. The Language Committee should be
central to implementing the content of this plan, but this was the most
powerless committee ever seen. It
received and discussed reports, but knew nothing of the outcomes of those
discussions and the committee could not even discuss language complaints from
the public. This plan identified the challenges, recognised the opportunities
and identified some solutions, but much more than this was needed.
·
Great disappointment
was expressed regarding the negative attitude of the previous speaker towards
what the Council was doing for the language.
It was stressed that the accusation of a lack of passion and a lack of
aspiration for the Welsh language was incorrect and that the Welsh language was
a priority for this Council. The development of the Welsh-medium education
policy from 1974 onwards had taken strength and determination and it was an
ongoing process, and our role in Gwynedd was to prove to the world and his wife
that we were proud of using the Welsh language and encouraged everyone else to
do so. It was not accepted that the plan was full of self-satisfaction. It was
recognised that there was room for improvement and that we would be looking at
ourselves, but not in a self-fulfilling way by any means.
·
Though the success of the Education Department's Language Strategy was
recognised, there was work to do to educate at home, before children started at
school, and also after they left. In response, it was agreed that there was a
need to focus on parents as well and try to encourage children leaving school
to have the confidence in their ability to speak Welsh. Years of work had gone
in to developing our language policies, and statistics showed that the
education system in Gwynedd was succeeding, with 92% of the county's children
and young people able to speak Welsh.
·
The importance of celebrating success was stressed, and it was noted
that the Welsh language had survived better in Gwynedd than anywhere else. It
was also suggested that peddling the idea that the language was on its deathbed
played to the hands of those who opposed the language.
·
The importance of teaching Welsh history more thoroughly in the schools
was stressed, as people saw no purpose in learning the language if they were
not aware of their history and culture.
·
It was noted that the
language in Gwynedd would be in a much worse position without the Council's
language policies, and as a result of the observations at this meeting, any
opportunity to strengthen some of these policies should be sought. Despite the
difference of opinion in the Chamber, it was clear that everyone was in
agreement in terms of their desire to see the Welsh language prospering in
Gwynedd, and everyone should work together in order to ensure the best possible
policies.
RESOLVED to accept the Welsh Language
Promotion Plan for Gwynedd 2018-23 and the associated action plan and to
approve commencing the action.
Supporting documents: