No. | Item |
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Apologies for Absence. Minutes: Apologies for absence were received from Councillors V M Evans, ET Kirchner, CL Philpott and G J Tanner. |
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Disclosures of Personal and Prejudicial Interests. PDF 30 KB Minutes: In accordance with the Code of
Conduct adopted by the City and County of Swansea, no interests were declared. |
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To approve as a correct
record the Minutes of the meeting of the Equalities Committee held on 2 July
2014. Minutes: RESOLVED that the Minutes of the
meeting of the Equalities Committee held on 2 July 2014 be agreed as a correct
record. |
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Welsh Language Scheme Draft Annual Monitoring Report 2013-14 and Welsh Language Standards. PDF 47 KB Additional documents:
Minutes: The Equality Policy Officer and the Access to Services
Manager presented
the Welsh Language Scheme Annual Monitoring Report 2013 – 2014. The report had been submitted to Cabinet for consideration prior
to the Meeting. The report had been circulated to Committee members at the end of July as the last meeting, when the item was originally scheduled for discussion, had been cancelled due to a
special Council meeting. It was outlined that the Council
was required to undertake an annual review of the implementation of the Welsh
Language Scheme with a report presented to the Welsh Language Commissioner and published. It was added that in common with
many parts of Wales, the profile of the language in the City and County of
Swansea had changed over the past decade. According to the 2011 Census,
11.4% of the population (26,332) of the City and County of Swansea speak Welsh
(with 19.3% having one or more language skills). This represented a
decrease of 1.6% since the 2001 Census, which was a little less than average
across Wales (1.9%). As Swansea was an economic and retail centre for
South West Wales, it was important to note that nearly a third of all Welsh
speakers live within the region. The
draft report was provided at Appendix A to the report and covered the year to March
2013. The Welsh Language Commissioner required that the monitoring report
covers six Performance Indicators, as well as providing information on the
following areas: ·
Compliance with the Welsh Language Scheme. ·
Frontline services. ·
Management and administration of the Scheme. ·
Welsh language skills. ·
Mainstreaming the Welsh language. ·
Performance analysis. The
statutory requirements for each public body in Wales with regards to the
production of a Welsh Language Scheme were outlined in detail. The time
table for, and some of the likely changes from, the introduction of Welsh
Language Standards next year were also outlined. The Committee
discussed the details contained within the report. Discussions centred around; · How
people engage their level of Welsh and the need to provide services that reflect the demand for,
and support the use of, Welsh. · How
the Authority has promoted the services it has and the Welsh language skills within the workforce. · How
the forthcoming austerity measures could affect the language provision within
the Authority. RESOLVED that the Welsh Language Scheme Annual
Monitoring Report 2013-2014 be
noted. |
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Member Champions. (Verbal) Minutes: There were no reports from
Member Champions. |
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Work Plan Timetable 2014-2015. PDF 29 KB Minutes: The Chair presented the revised
Work Plan for 2014/2015. RESOLVED that
the contents of the report be noted. |
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Next Meeting - 5 p.m. on Wednesday, 24 September 2014. Minutes: NOTED
that the next meeting of the Committee at 5pm on Wednesday, 24 September 2014. |