News Centre

The Welsh Language Standards Annual Report 2023-2024 contains information about how the Council has complied with the Welsh Language Standards, in accordance with the Standards outlined in the Council’s Compliance Notice.

The report explains the steps taken to ensure that the Council provides services for the public in Welsh and operates in Welsh.  It also includes how the council promotes and celebrates the Welsh language cross the county borough.

During the reporting year 2023-2024 we didn’t receive any complaints or investigations about the Welsh language.  This is the fifth consecutive year that we haven’t been subject to a Welsh Language Commissioner investigation for non-compliance.

We promoted and celebrated a number of different Welsh language activities during 2023-2024 including:

• Diwrnod Shwmae – staff and residents of Tŷ Iscoed Residential Home got involved with a Welsh language course.
• Welsh Language Rights Day – we promoted Welsh language services and encouraged members of the public to access services in Welsh.
• We continued our work supporting Careers Wales with talks at Ysgol Gyfun Cwm Rhymni, St Martins School, Islwyn High, and St Cenydd Comprehensive.  The talks were delivered to Years 10 and 11 regarding career and apprenticeship opportunities with the Council, and emphasis on how important Welsh language skills are to employers.
• The partnership working with Careers Wales and schools in the county borough earned us a nomination and shortlisted as finalists in the Careers Wales Valued Partner Awards.  Although we did not win the award, it was a great achievement for the Council to be recognised for the work that has been done over the years and will continue to do in a number of schools in the county borough.
• The Council’s Translation Team translated 2,175,562 words this financial year.  That’s over 700,000 words more than last year, thanks to the additional capacity in the team.
• The number of staff recorded as having Welsh language skills rose from 2,100 to 2,258 during this financial year. With the roll-out of the Welsh Language Skills Audit in April, we hope next to year to be in a position where we can map and detail every member of staff with Welsh language skills and provide them with the necessary support to encourage them to use those skills confidently in the workplace.
• The number of staff learning Welsh increased again during this financial year to 96. We have changed the process of registering on courses, which is much more streamlined. We have also been working a lot more with service areas, particularly the Employability Team, who have all attended a Welsh course and are a great example of how to embed Welsh language into everyday work. 

Cllr Eluned Stenner, Cabinet Member Finance & Performance, which includes the Welsh Language said,

“We have worked in collaboration with our partners to develop a strategy that builds on our past successes, meets the needs of the Welsh speakers and learners in the county borough, meets the legislative requirements and most importantly, is meaningful, appropriate and achievable for everyone involved.

The Welsh Language Report clearly shows the progress made by Caerphilly CBC and demonstrates our commitment in providing high quality bilingual services to residents, across all our channels, to improve our customer service and ensure we are meeting the needs of our Welsh speakers.”

You can view the Welsh Language Standards Annual Report 2023-2024 (HTML) on our website.