17 complaints over council’s Welsh service

CARDIFF’S new council leader has vowed to improve Welsh-language services in the city but admits “challenges remain”.

Coun Huw Thomas’ comments come as the council publish a list of complaints they have received about their Welsh-language offering.

The 17 complaints date between April 2016 and February 2017.

They include complaints that English-only responses were sent in reply to Welsh letters or emails and that there was a lack of Welsh-language content on Facebook pages relating to council services.

There are also complaints of incorrect Welsh being used on a bus poster and within a library and the font for Welsh signs being smaller than that for English.

In November 2016, someone complained that the council did not respond to correspondence about parking fines because they were sent in Welsh. In the same month, another resident said there was no Welsh-language information about a parking fine payment, there were no Welsh speakers in the nursery admissions team and no Welsh service available at Grangetown Hub.

In February 2017, incorrect Welsh was used in an email notification to those who use the city’s parks pitches.

Others said that English was positioned above Welsh on signs or posters. From March 31, 2016, new regulations from the Welsh Language Commissioner said that new signs, including temporary signs, which say the same in both English and Welsh, have to have Welsh above English “so that it is likely to be read first”.

The city council will discuss the council’s Welsh Language Standards Annual Report at a meeting of council on Thursday.

The annual report outlines the council’s work to promote the Welsh language and how it is progressing in its compliance with the standards. The authority wants to increase the number of Welsh speakers by 15.9% by 2021.

The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 laid out how organisations are expected to use the Welsh language.

Cardiff council was given 171 standards by the Welsh Language Commissioner covering service delivery, policy full making, record-keeping, and promotional and operational standards.

Coun Thomas said: “The Welsh Language Standards aim to improve the services people can expect to receive from organisations such as the council through the medium of Welsh.

“Over the last 25 years, the number of Welsh speakers in Cardiff has more than doubled and we want to build on that to play our part in supporting the Welsh Government’s vision for a million Welsh speakers by 2050.

“The standards, as well as the Bilingual Cardiff strategy and associated action plan to increase the number of Welsh speakers in Cardiff and ensure that the Welsh language is very much a part of life in the city, will play a significant role in achieving this.

“We’ve already made progress on the journey to becoming a truly bilingual capital, both as an organisation and throughout the city. However, some challenges still remain and we are working hard across the authority, and essentially with partners too, to promote and facilitate the use of Welsh.”