94% of council staff now fluent in Welsh

ALL but 2% of Gwynedd council staff can now communicate in Welsh, a new report has revealed.

And of 3,897 members of staff, 3,674 (94%) were listed as being fluent Welsh speakers.

With several staff undergoing training and able to speak and understand the language to varying degrees, only 63 were unable to communicate whatsoever in the language that the last census found was spoken by 76.1% of the county’s population.

But while Gwynedd, like all Welsh local authorities has a duty to comply with Welsh language standards, the report to the council’s cabinet found it was already operating in accordance with, or beyond, many of the standards imposed by the Welsh Language Commissioner.

The report noted said: “As a result of years of setting language

requirements when recruiting, and of offering training to improve skills and learning Welsh, we have ensured that the vast majority of council staff are able to speak Welsh and are able to act in accordance with this policy, thus normalising the use of Welsh and ensuring that Welsh services are available without having to ask.”

But despite Welsh being the authority’s main administrative language, eight complaints were received in terms of its provision, ranging from planning documents not being available in English, an on-line questionnaire not available in Welsh and staff not using bilingual answerphone greeting messages.

In March 2019, it was found that the authority had breached two standards in failing to deal with correspondence and an appeals process in its entirety in Welsh. As a result, the authority says that steps have already been taken to ensure that the situation does not arise again, with its language policy clearly stating that any member of staff has a right to submit complaints and follow the complaints procedure through the medium of Welsh.

In addition, the authority plans to set up a new “Cymraeg yn y Gweithle” (Welsh in the workplace) work stream over the coming year, which aims to encourage more people to use Welsh forms and on-line services as well as develop a training programme that will focus on ensuring that staff use “legible, simple and clear language” when writing and communicating.

Cllr Nia Jeffreys, the portfolio holder for corporate support, told last Tuesday’s meeting Gwynedd was “setting the standard” in terms of its Welsh language provision.

Meanwhile, the council leader noted that the use of Welsh had been normalised, with a high awareness amongst the public that they can get services and correspond with the council in Welsh.

Cllr Dyfrig Siencyn added: “It was considered that the level of service offered should not be weakened by meeting the requirements of the standards alone, and it’s worth repeating that the principle of treating Welsh and English equally is followed but by prioritising Welsh at all times.”

The report was unanimously. approved