Welsh Government strategy on the internal use of the Welsh language. But its future across Wales cannot be taken for granted. The year 2050: the Welsh language is thriving, the number of speakers has reached a million, and it is used in every aspect of life. Implementing that vision will involve generational change, halting the decline of the last century. Set in this context, the Welsh Government’s goal for the Welsh language within the organisation is that by 2050 all staff working for the Welsh Government will be able to understand Welsh. The First Minister has also pledged to “mainstream” the Welsh language into the development of policy and to the way we work more generally. This will enable staff to work in Welsh from day to day and there will be a significant increase in the use of the language as a result. So our goal is that the Welsh Government should gradually become a truly bilingual organisation; one in which it is routine for the Welsh and English languages to both be used naturally and interchangeably. Welsh is spoken for cultural, commercial, social and emotional reasons, but it is also a vocational skill – a skill that should be better recognised and utilised. An important part of the vision involves renewing the association between the language and the workplace. This file may not be fully accessible. It is part of our shared inheritance and identity as a nation. Mae’r ddogfen yma hefyd ar gael yn Gymraeg. This is something we can all do together. We are proud of the Welsh language and want it to thrive. This is the Welsh Government’s vision for the Welsh language in Wales (Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers, Welsh Government, 2017). It is to see, by 2050, a million speakers using the language in every aspect of their lives, and doubling the percentage of people in Wales who speak and use the language daily. There is an onus on us to take proactive steps to support and increase the use of the language, and to pass it on to future generations. The Welsh language – y Gymraeg – is integral to our culture, our heritage and our daily lives. As a result the Welsh Government has already committed to “… Welsh by our own workforce” (Theme 2 Increasing the Use of Welsh, chapter 6 The Workplace).
It is important to be clear what is meant by a bilingual organisation.
It is something that can unite us as a nation. Making a long term commitment and leading the way: change will be incremental and will happen over time, but we intend to lead by example in the way we promote use of the language in the workplace. It is important to be clear what is meant by a bilingual organisation. Eventually a choice of language will be available operationally within the organisation, meaning we will be able to routinely choose whether to communicate (orally and in writing) in Welsh or English, or indeed both. Investing in staff and providing opportunities to learn Welsh and develop language skills: it is crucial that effective and convenient training is provided, with people given both time and motivation to continuously improve their Welsh language skills. We need to establish a common understanding that the Welsh language belongs to us all whatever our linguistic background. With that in mind this strategy is underpinned by the following principles. This has relevance that goes beyond being able to provide all outward facing services and internal formal communications in both languages. Our strategy on the use of Welsh in the workplace is, in many respects, set by the political direction and legal framework that have already been established; to promote the language and to increase its use. This is why our long term goal is to become a bilingual organisation. Remaining an open, inclusive and diverse organisation: everyone has the potential to be a Welsh speaker and this strategy does not conflict with our commitment to being open, inclusive and diverse – although Welsh language skills will progressively be needed for more posts, developing a bilingual workforce does not mean (or imply) those skills being a universal pre-requisite for joining the Welsh Government. The language is not exclusive to those who can speak it today. We know that what we do within the Welsh Government will influence other parts of the public sector in Wales. However, we are conscious also that steps taken to increase use of the language must be reasonable and proportionate, which means that becoming a bilingual organisation will involve change that happens gradually. But while some are comfortable speaking Welsh – more often than not as the language was passed on to them by their families – many are not. We are conscious of how using Welsh in the workplace can give the language more purpose and relevance. This is especially the case in so far as those learning Welsh in our schools are concerned, who should understand that the language will be a useful skill for them in the workplace. Statistics show that 86% of people across Wales feel that the language is something to be proud of.
This choice will be made possible by all staff being able to at least understand Welsh. They will be expected to lead by example in promoting use of the language and making its importance to the organisation clear. These, in turn, contribute to reaching the 2050 goal. We want and need more Welsh Government staff to have Welsh language skills they can use in the workplace. This will of course take time and will require a long term commitment (firstly) to continuously improving our language skills and (secondly) to developing a working culture that understands and respects bilingualism. The shorter term objective will be reviewed in 2025 and a new objective and associated actions will be set for the following 5 year period – a process that will continue until the 2050 goal is reached. As well as setting a long term 2050 goal we are also setting a shorter term objective for the period up to 2025 and 10 actions designed to help meet that objective. One of the most fundamental elements to the success of this strategy will be the learning and development on offer to staff across all levels of proficiency. We envisage a process under which the strategy and changes in policy adopted under it are reviewed every 5 years. The renewed focus on the language is to be led not just at the political level but also by senior officials. Our goal is to become a bilingual organisation by 2050, but over the first 5 years our objective is to see the Welsh Government become an exemplar organisation in increasing internal use of the language when assessed against comparable public sector organisations in Wales. This can be done in 2 ways; by existing staff starting to learn or improve and by more recruitment of those who already have Welsh language skills. This strategy envisages reaching its goal more than 30 years from now, so for obvious reasons it will need to be periodically reviewed and changed. Learning Welsh and facilitating its use by Welsh speakers in day to day work will be a business need across the organisation, and line managers will need to adhere to that principle by demonstrating personal leadership. The principle of continuous improvement over the long term will be based on the scale currently used to assess Welsh language skills. Our focus will be on encouraging people to learn and to continuously improve. They will help others to use, learn and improve their Welsh language skills – and develop skills of their own. Both of these will be required, as – crucially – is plenty of time and support to adapt. Our goal is to allow staff increased opportunities to acquire and then use their Welsh language skills in the workplace, and eventually allow for language choice.
However we will over time also need to recruit more people who already have Welsh language skills.
However this will be amended to introduce a new minimum level of “courtesy” Welsh and to more accurately reflect the notion of being able to understand written and spoken Welsh (which is what we need to enable bilingual working). The process of determining the actions in Chapter 3 has been informed by comparative analysis and most of the actions replicate existing good practice elsewhere in Wales (or internationally). There have in recent years been only limited opportunities to recruit new staff and we do not expect this to change significantly any time soon. This will promote the value of the Welsh language to the organisation, and provide staff with a flexible and adaptable programme to address agreed organisational needs. However we will over time also need to recruit more people who already have Welsh language skills. It has also been an important feature of European institutions. This will be made easier by increases in the number of Welsh speakers in society, in particular as more pupils leave school with improved skills. We will develop an innovative and wide-ranging choice of training. The context for the Welsh Government becoming an exemplar organisation is that we are already committed to “leading by example” in so far as our internal use of Welsh is concerned. Our starting point will be to continue to aim to recruit the best people regardless of their background, with new staff being welcomed and supported to improve their Welsh language skills. However, we need to bear in mind, firstly, that this is a long term strategy and, secondly, that (although this has not been done consciously) our recruitment processes have at times put insufficient emphasis on the importance of Welsh language skills. This means that we must have regard to initiatives already pursued by other public bodies. In countries such as Canada, Belgium, Switzerland and the Basque Country working in two or more languages is considered to be normal and an inherent part of modern, representative government. We also intend to make better use of technology to produce Welsh language material without always necessarily having to send work to translation services. The programme will acknowledge the fact that people learn differently by offering a range of learning methods, including face-to-face classes, e-learning, informal group conversations, mentoring and online networks. We will focus on use of technology to make it easier to work in Welsh. Governments and other organisations in many countries already operate bilingually (or even multilingually) and what we propose for the Welsh Government is far from unique.