Agenda and minutes

The Chair welcomed the attendees to the meeting of the Welsh Language Cabinet Steering Group.

Apologies were received from Councillor J. Rosser, Councillor R. Bevan, C. Hanagan and E.Thomas.

To receive disclosures of personal interest from Members in accordance with the Code of Conduct.

Note:

1.     Members are requested to identify the item number and subject matter that their interest relates to and signify the nature of the personal interest.

2.     Where Members withdraw from a meeting as a consequence of the disclosure of a prejudicial interest they must notify the Chairman when they leave.

Councillor S. Rees-Owen declared a personal interest in Item 3 – Welsh Language Promotion Strategy Review ‘I am freelancer and have worked with ‘It’s My Shout’ whose partnership work has been outlined on page 54 of the report’.

To receive the minutes of the Welsh Language Cabinet Steering Group meeting which was held on 28^th November, 2017.

The Steering Group RESOLVED to approve the minutes of the previous meeting held on 28^th November, 2017.

To receive the report of the Director, Education & Lifelong Learning, providing the Welsh Language Cabinet Steering Group with an opportunity to discuss the Council’s progress in relation to the Welsh Language Promotion Strategy.

The Head of Community Services provided the Welsh Language Cabinet Steering Group with an update on the Welsh Language Promotion Strategy Action Plan which had been approved on 25^th January, 2017.

The officer provided the Steering Group with background into the Strategy, advising that the Plan was developed under Section 145 of the Compliance Notice issued under section 44 of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 and was developed over the course of 2016 in partnership with Sbectrwm, Menter Iaith, Council Services and Elected Members. The public had also been consulted between April and July, 2016 in order to understand what would engage them to use the Welsh Language and which services they felt were important as a means of promoting the language.

Members were reminded that the focus of the Action Plan was to:

·       Grow the number of people able to speak Welsh by 3%

·       Increase the use of the Welsh Language in all aspects of community and public life, and

·       Raise awareness of importance of the Welsh Language as an essential part of the cultural identity and character of the South Wales valleys.

The officer spoke of the positive actions taken within RCT to meet the actions, referring to Appendix 1 of the report, where the progress against targets for each individual service area was detailed. Members were pleased to hear that within the first year, there had already been a 2% increase in Welsh Language speakers amongst staff.

Members were advised that in July 2017, Welsh Government published their strategy for promotion Cymraeg 2050 which outlined a target for a 78% increase in the number of Welsh speakers in Wales by 2050. Following the improvements already made by the Council and in order to meet the Welsh Government’s target, the Council would need to increase the percentage of speakers by 1.66% per annum until 2021, with the numbers outlined at section 5.13 of the report. The officer referred Members to section 2 of the report and recommended that the Group agree an increased target for growing the number of Welsh speakers within Rhondda Cynon Taf.

The Chair thanked the officer for the comprehensive report, adding that it was pleasing to see the amount of work undertaken to ensure the Council meets its target and that they were in a good position to increase the number.

The Deputy Leader raised concerns about the target, commenting that it was more difficult to reach adults with little or no experience of using the language. However, the Deputy added that she was fully supportive of the proposed increase, commenting on the importance of targetting children at a young age that could develop their skills over a long period of time. The Member was pleased to see that comparisons had been made with Merthyr Tydfil and Cardiff Councils and felt that it would be useful to reach out further to Councils such as Caerphilly and Bridgend to enhance one another’s understanding and ways of working.

Ms E Siôn also welcomed the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 17.

To receive the report of the Director, Education & Lifelong Learning, providing Members of the Steering Group with an opportunity to review the Annual Monitoring Report prior to its submission to the Welsh Language Commissioner in June, 2018.

The Service Manager, Welsh Language Services provided the Welsh Language Cabinet Steering Group with the Welsh Language Standards Compliance Report 2017 – 2018 which covered the second full year of implementation of the standards.

Members of the Steering Group were referred to Appendix 1 of the report, which outlined the work undertaken by the Council to comply with a vast number of standards imposed by the Welsh Language Commissioner. The officer advised that following challenge by the Council, standards 52, 58 and 64 had been postponed until 31^st March, 2018 and would, therefore, be included in next year’s compliance report.

The officer explained that it was the Council’s statutory duty to publish the annual report and to disseminate to the public. As well as covering the standards; the report had been made more transparent by outlining:

(1)   the number of complaints that you received during the year which relates to the Council’s compliance with the (i) service delivery (ii) policy making (iii) operational standards with which it was under a duty to comply

(2)   the number of employees who have Welsh language skills at the end of the year in question

(3)   the number of members of staff who attended training courses you offered in Welsh during the year in question

(4)   the percentage of the total number of staff who attended training courses you offered in Welsh during the year in question

(5)   the number of new and vacant posts that you advertised during the year which were categorised as posts where - (i) Welsh language skills were essential, (ii) Welsh language skills needed to be learnt when appointed to the post, (iii) Welsh language skills were desirable, or (iv) Welsh language skills were not necessary during the year in question.

The officer advised of an error on page 114 of the report, stating that the first line of text outside the box should read ‘2017-18 (April 2018)’.

The Chair took the opportunity to thank the officer and his team for their constant hard work in what had been a significant challenge, explaining that resources had been increased to ensure that standards would continue to be met. The Chair praised the transparency of including the complaints within the report, commenting that with change, they were inevitable, but was pleased that there were only 12 and were dealt with at an informal stage.

Councillor J. James queried the complaints process and whether they were formal or simply statements which had been logged. It was advised that the CSG reference meant that the complaints were sent directly to the Commissioner meaning they were formally dealt with by the legal process.

The Deputy Leader praised the progress made by the Council during the year, extending her thanks to the staff who work hard at ensuring meetings are conducted bilingually and professionally.

With the Group agreeing that there was a range of training avenues available for Elected Members and staff, resulting in a 2% increase of speakers within  ...  view the full minutes text for item 18.

To consider any other business, which the Chairman by reason of special circumstances is of the opinion should be considered at the meeting as a matter of urgency.

Ms E Siôn, Menter Iaith took the opportunity to raise concerns around the WESP reporting system. It was explained that prior to Welsh Government making changes to the way in which the WESP was reported, there was a constructive action plan in place. However, with certain elements of the plan now removed, it was harder to implement the growth of Welsh speakers.

It was RESOLVED:

a)    That a meeting would be organised between the Chair, Cabinet Member for Education, Director of Education & Ms E Siôn, Menter Iaith in order to discuss a strategic way forward and;

b)    That the Service Manager, Welsh Language Services extend an invitation to Councillor Hopkins to the next WESP Group meeting which would take place on 21^st June, 2018 to discuss the WESP.