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Welsh language annual monitoring report

Published: 11/06/2020

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet will review and note the Welsh Language Annual Report when it meets on Tuesday, 16 June.

The Council has a statutory duty to publish an annual report setting out how it has met the 171 Welsh Language Standards (WLS) set in September 2015 by the Welsh Language Commissioner.

The Welsh Language Annual Report provides an opportunity to set out what the Council has done to meet the standards and showcase exemplars of good practice. There have been some outstanding areas of achievement during the year:

  • An increased number of shops participated in Saint David’s Day window dressing competitions.
  • A grant to contribute to increase the number of St David’s Day events was awarded to Menter Iaith Fflint a Wrecsam, which including supporting an event in Connah’s Quay.
  • The Business Team also worked with businesses to encourage them to promote Welsh produce and participate in Welsh Language Music Day, where possible, as well as St David’s Day.
  • Theatr Clwyd has continued to include Welsh medium and bilingual performances in their schedule, including the successful bilingual production of “Mold Riots”, to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the riots. Weekly Welsh classes were held for members of the cast who wanted to learn Welsh to tell the story.
  • Theatr Clwyd has also developed a Parkinson’s bilingual pilot project working with Parkinson’s UK, using dance, music and drama for people who live with Parkinson’s.
  • “Paned a Sgwrs” weekly conversations sessions to support our employees who are learning Welsh or who have lost confidence speaking Welsh have continued, providing opportunity to practise Welsh in a safe environment.

There are some areas in which progress is to be mad and where an understanding of the importance of the Welsh language assists in applying the standards:

  • More employees need to complete courses available in Welsh language awareness.  
  • We need to increase the number of Welsh speaking employees and reduce the number of employees without any knowledge of the Welsh language. This will support the Council to deliver bilingual services and meet the needs of Welsh speaking customers.

Only two complaints relating to Welsh language were investigated by the Commissioner.  These related to promotional material and correspondence.

Flintshire County Council Cabinet Member for Corporate Management, Councillor Billy Mullin, said:

“Flintshire County Council is committed to working with the Welsh Language Commissioner to ensure that the new standards can be practically achieved, recognising the Council’s geography and demographic breakdown.”

Various methods of communication are being considered to ensure managers and employees work within the standards.