Council publishes its Welsh Language Annual Report

Carmarthenshire County Council has published a Welsh Language Annual Report [1]. The report was approved by Councillor Glynog Davies, Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language.

The Annual Report contains information about how the Council has complied with the Welsh Language Standards imposed by the Welsh Language Commissioner in the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.

The report explains the steps taken to ensure that the Council provides services for the public in Welsh and operates internally in Welsh. There are also details about how the Council promotes the Welsh language across the county and considers the Welsh language in developing policy.

The report provides data on the Welsh language skills of the workforce and Welsh language training provided by the Council. It is possible to read case studies of work of which the Council is proud, which includes establishing ‘Clwb Clebran’ – a scheme that gives staff an opportunity to maintain their informal use of the Welsh language following the increasing move to working from home.

Councillor Glynog Davies, Cabinet Member for Education and Welsh Language, said, “It is my pleasure to present Carmarthenshire County Council’s Welsh Language Annual Report for

2021/22. This is the sixth year of implementing the Welsh Language Standards, during a period of adapting and rebuilding following lockdowns and the disruption of the pandemic. The extremely high standards were continued while providing on-line services and communicating with our residents.

Our communication work was provided in accordance with the Standards without fail, throughout the storms, with weather warnings and all information about road closures being provided bilingually, across our social media platforms, at the same time in Welsh and English.

Following the COVID-19 pandemic, we are extremely proud of the way in which we placed the Welsh language at the heart of the work of rebuilding services and re-establishing regeneration projects, and there are many examples of new projects to promote the Welsh language in our work of regenerating the economy and the community following the pandemic.

This thorough report, along with the data that will come from the Census later this year, provides a full picture of the situation of the Welsh language in the county. It will be a sound basis for planning for the Welsh language in the future. The Council has already started the work of coordinating efforts to plan for the future and prepare a new promotion strategy for the next five years.

In presenting this report, I must recognise the tireless work of Councillor Peter Hughes-Griffiths, who was responsible for the Welsh Language, Tourism, Culture and Leisure

portfolio in the Cabinet during the work period of this report. I look forward to continuing the work of providing, developing and promoting the Welsh Language with the same tenacity and working with the new Welsh Language Commissioner, Efa Gruffudd Jones, during the next period.”