Quarter of council staff have no knowledge of spoken Welsh

An annual report has revealed more than a quarter of a council’s workforce  can’t even pronounce Welsh place names correctly, never mind say hello and goodbye in Cymraeg.

The study highlighting native linguistic skills of staff is among reports being presented to Denbighshire council’s Welsh language steering group.

It also showed fewer than five percent of authority staff could handle complex professional meetings in the nations’ mother tongue.

In all 644 staff out of 2,557 surveyed said they had “no knowledge” of spoken Welsh – they couldn’t pronounce place names properly or exchange pleasantries in the language.

Three in 10 workers (776) said they could articulate place names properly, greet people and give and receive basic details.
However only 130 staff said they could communicate in Welsh at Level 5 – meaning they could handle complex discussions and questions in Cymraeg.

The Welsh linguistic skills of a little under 20% of staff are unknown because they didn’t complete the self-assessment survey.
Overall 62% of staff (around 1,400) had some knowledge of spoken Welsh between Level 1 (beginner) and Level 5 (advanced).

Another report to the steering group revealed the council has been promoting the language to staff even though the pandemic has hit some planned events.

A staff Eisteddfod, held virtually on St David’s Day, brought 163 entries and more than 700 votes.

Paned a Sgwrs (tea and a chat) sessions for workers have started to see increased numbers the reports said.

To promote the language a video reinforcing Welsh standards will be included in HR induction packs from May this year and in June there will promotion of bilingual phone greetings.

Indications of whether someone is a Welsh speaker or Welsh learner will also be added to emails by June and in July the authority will promote bilingual “out of office” messages to staff.

It will also develop a vocabulary “to encourage staff to start and finish meetings in Welsh”, by August.

All internal council staff are expected to complete an e-learning module on Welsh language awareness.

The authority has also shared information about a free, 10-hour online language course available for the care sector and has developed it’s own taster sessions for staff who understand spoken Welsh but lack confidence speaking it.

By Jez Hemming – Local Democracy Reporter