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Welsh Language Promotion Strategy

Published: 19/04/2018

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet will be asked to approve the draft five year Welsh Language Promotion Strategy prior to wider consultation and to approve the consultation process when it meets on 24 April. Welsh Language Standard 145 requires the Council to prepare a five-year Promotion Strategy and publish it on the Council’s website. The Strategy needs to include a target for increasing or maintaining the number of Welsh speakers. The aim of the draft Strategy is: “to promote, support and safeguard the Welsh language for the benefit of present and future generations. We will support an increase in the current level of Welsh speakers, from 13.2% (19,343 people) within the county to 13.6% (20,000 people) during this period. Our longer term vision, post 2021 is to create a bilingual county where Welsh language is a natural part of everyday life.” The Council is already committed to the Welsh Language and this Strategy will support other initiatives already in place including: ? the Council’s Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) which aims to increase the number of learners being taught through the medium of Welsh. ? Welsh Government’s Framework for Welsh Language in Health and Social Care “Mwy na Geiriau” which is being successfully implemented within Social Services. ? Welsh Government’s Strategy to achieve one million Welsh speakers in Wales by 2050. The Welsh Language Promotion Strategy will also contribute to the Council’s Well-being Plan. Flintshire County Council Cabinet Member for Corporate Management, Councillor Billy Mullin, said: “Flintshire County Council is committed to developing this five year Welsh Language Promotion Strategy. We already have a policy for Welsh in the workplace to ensure that we raise the profile of the Welsh language to help increase the number of Welsh speakers in the county and for opportunities for employees to use Welsh at work. “Implementing this Strategy will support us in developing bilingual services. It also sends a clear message, internally and externally, that the Welsh language is valued and is an asset in employment.” The consultation process on the Welsh Language Promotion Strategy will take place during May 2018 and the final Strategy will be presented to Cabinet later in the year.