With Neath Port Talbot Council preparing to host the Urdd Eisteddfod in Margam Country Park in 2025, the authority has published its Welsh Language Standards Annual Report for 2023/24.
The report provides an overview of the work done by the council to continue adhering to the relevant Welsh language standards. It was presented to members of the council’s Cabinet at their meeting on August 7th, 2024.
Cabinet members heard the Welsh Language Commissioner’s Standards Setting and Compliance Officer assessed the council’s performance as “good” – particularly in relation to telephone calls, corporate identity (including its social media accounts) and in meeting all supplementary standards.
Cllr Simon Knoyle, Neath Port Talbot Council’s Cabinet Member for Finance, Performance and Social Justice, said:
“It’s encouraging the Welsh Language Commissioner’s office recognised that we made progress during the year in a number of areas.
“With our revised Welsh Language Promotion Strategy (WLPS) now in place to complement our Welsh in Education Strategic Plan (WESP) we are confident we will continue to make progress in our county borough in the awareness, acceptance, confidence and use of Welsh as part of our everyday lives.
“Next year Neath Port Talbot will host the Urdd Eisteddfod (May 26-31) which will help us celebrate and further develop the Welsh language and culture throughout the country borough.”
The WLPS, launched last year, contains a wide range of actions to increase the use of Welsh across Neath Port Talbot including promoting the benefits of bilingualism/language awareness to young families and all newcomers into NPT, providing homework support to pupils of non-Welsh speaking families attending Welsh medium schools and providing language awareness and training for teaching and non-teaching staff.
The Council’s WESP lists some of the achievements in Neath Port Talbot in recent years including more nursery children/three-year-olds, reception class children/five-year-olds receiving education through the medium of Welsh and more children continuing to improve their Welsh language skills when transferring from one stage of their statutory education to another.
Other achievements include more opportunities for learners to use Welsh in different contexts in school and an increase in Welsh-medium education provision for learners with additional learning needs.
The Welsh Language Standards Annual Report 2023/24 says: “The council’s Welsh Language Officer Group remains key to the promotion of the Welsh language including the implementation of the standards, identification of good practice and monitoring compliance.
“Staff with Welsh language skills continue to be encouraged to use Welsh in their work. In order to help increase the future language capability of staff, the council encourages the uptake of available Welsh courses.”
In Neath Port Talbot, council meetings are held on a hybrid basis, with participants choosing whether they attend in person in the Council Chamber or remotely.
Using Welsh translation software, the council also offers simultaneous Welsh translation for all participants in council meetings (whether in person or remotely) while being fully integrated with the council’s Public-I webcasting and hybrid audio visual equipment.”
The Welsh Language Standards Report 2023/24 can be viewed here: www.npt.gov.uk/welshlangstandards.
