Agenda and minutes

Apologies for absence by Councillor Ieuan Williams, Portfolio Member for Education and the Welsh Language were submitted and noted.

To receive any declaration of interest by any Member or Officer in respect of any item of business.

Councillor Euryn Morris declared a personal but not prejudicial interest in item 7 on the agenda as the contact point for Gwynedd Council’s ITC provision for the North Wales Economic Ambition Board.

To submit, for confirmation, the minutes of the following meetings:-

·      Minutes of the meeting held on 8 March, 2022.

·      Minutes of the meeting held on 31 May, 2022 (Election of Chair and Vice-Chair).

The minutes of the previous meetings of the Partnership and Regeneration Committee held on the following dates were presented –

8 March, 2022

31 May, 2022

It was resolved -

·           To receive the minutes of  the meeting of the  Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee held on 8 March, 2022

·           To approve the minutes of the meeting of the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee held on 31 May, 2022.

To submit a report by the Chief Executive.

The Welsh Language Annual Standards Report was presented for the Committee’s consideration and comment prior to its submission for delegated approval by the Portfolio Member for publication. The report evaluates the Council’s compliance with the Welsh Language Standards in 2021/22 and documents the ways in which the Council promoted and facilitated opportunities to use the Welsh language during the year ensuring that the language was treated no less favourably than English.

Councillor Llinos Medi, Leader of the Council in presenting the report in the Portfolio Member’s absence commented that despite the continuing need to respond to the challenges of the Covid-19 pandemic which compelled the Authority to adapt its usual working practices to react at pace to the exceptional challenges, its high standard of Welsh language services was unaffected thanks in large part to the Authority’s officers. She spoke about the continued development of the Council workforce’s Welsh language skills with over 90% of officers able to use Welsh  and she referred also to the development and utilisation of technology to promote and to facilitate use of the language at a time when opportunities to distribute promotional materials were few. This reporting period saw the launch of a new section of website all about the Welsh language as well as the adoption of a new domain name; this microsite brings together a wealth of information and resources about the language. To conclude it was a pleasure to be able to report on an exciting area of Council business where progress is being driven by a heartfelt desire to see the Welsh language and its use within the Council develop and flourish.

The Chief Executive said that although the Authority is duty bound to operate through the medium of Welsh, it does so because it believes that doing so is important and because it sees bilingualism as an integral part of its work. It is also important that the Council operationally reflects the fact that over half the Island’s population speaks Welsh. The Council embraces bilingualism and strives to replicate this in all its written and oral communications with the public. It also regards bilingualism as a particular strength and as an aspect of service delivery which it seeks to develop. In terms of noteworthy successes, the Chief Executive referred to the investment which the Council has made over the past three years in bilingual fitness equipment at its leisure centres and also to the role of the Welsh Language Forum in bringing partners together in an area where collaboration is essential. The challenge moving forwards is to continue to build on this body of positive work and to preserve the Council’s good name as a fully bilingual organisation. The Council’s Strategic Leadership Team is committed to this task and to meeting the language choice of the people whom the Council serves as well as to developing the organisation’s Welsh language skills and proficiency still further.

The Committee welcomed the report and its revised format; in considering the overview of the  ...  view the full minutes text for item 4.

To submit a report by the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer.

The report of the Director of Function (Council Business)/Monitoring Officer and the Scrutiny Manager inviting the Committee to nominate representatives from among its members to serve on the Social Services Scrutiny Panel/Corporate Parenting Panel; Finance Scrutiny Panel and the Education Scrutiny Panel was presented for consideration. The report detailed the scope, function and remit of each panel and set out their reporting arrangements.

It was resolved to nominate the following members to serve on the Panels as noted below –

Social Services Scrutiny Panel/Corporate Parenting Panel (4 members from the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee)

Councillors John I. Jones, Euryn Morris, Pip O’Neill and Jeff Evans (with Councillor Trefor Ll. Hughes, MBE as substitute)

Finance Scrutiny Panel (3 members from the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee)

Councillors Paul Ellis, Dylan Rees and Ken Taylor

Education Scrutiny Panel (4 members from the Partnership and Regeneration Scrutiny Committee)

Councillors Non Dafydd, Gwilym O. Jones, Derek Owen and Margaret M. Roberts

To submit the Forward Work Programme.

The report of the Scrutiny Manager setting out the Partnership and Regeneration Committee’s indicative Forward Work Programme for 2022/23 was presented for consideration.

The Scrutiny Manager advised that the Forward Work Programme is a standing item on the agenda of the Committee’s scheduled meetings and is reviewed on that basis. She referred to the Committee’s next scheduled meeting in September and confirmed the items for that meeting.

It was resolved –

·           To agree the current version of the Forward Work Programme for 2022/23.

·           To note the progress thus far in implementing the Forward Work Programme.

North Wales Economic Ambition Board - Quarter 4 Progress Report : 2021/2022

The report of the Chief Executive incorporating a Quarter 4 2021/22 update on the progress of the North Wales Growth Deal programmes and projects was presented for the Committee’s information.

It was resolved to note the progress made during Quarter 4, 2021/22.