Welsh language Standards Annual Report 2024-25

Summary of Progress - Operational Standards

Employee Communication Preference

• There are 33 employees recorded as wishing to receive paper correspondence in Welsh that relates to their employment, and which is addressed to them personally. This figure has remained static over the last 4 years.

 

Welsh Language Skills

• The number of employees who had completed the Welsh language skills self-assessment decreased by 5.6% (100) from 1774 in 2023-24 to 1674 in 2024-25.

 

Welsh Language Skills at Level 1 or above

• The number of employees that indicated Welsh language speaking skills at Level 1 or above that have completed the Welsh language skills self-assessment also decreased by 11.8% (103) from 868 in 2023-24 to 765 in 2024-25.

 

Welsh Language Skills at Level 3 or 4

• The number of employees able to speak Welsh at Level 3 or 4 that had completed the Welsh language skills self-assessment remained static with 170 in 2023-24 to 169 in 2024-25. However, whilst there was no increase in numbers at Level 3 and 4 it can be viewed positively that there was no decrease at this skills level.
• Guidance is provided for managers to assess the need for Welsh language skills in a job vacancy. However, maintaining and increasing the Councils capacity to deliver bilingually remains a challenge due to the ongoing national shortage of bilingual workers. This has been raised during the Welsh Language Strategy Delivery Group by Service Managers and course tutors and will be discussed further as part of the development of the 5-year Welsh Language Strategy during 2025-26.

 

Welsh Language Skills Self-Assessment Process

• A review of the Welsh language skills assessment process is well underway. We are required to assess the Welsh language abilities of all employees as part of the Welsh Language Standards. We use the information gathered to assist in the development of Welsh language training opportunities and to report statistical information on the Welsh language abilities of our employees as part of this report.
• To help us assess Welsh language skills we will use a different method to the one we use currently. The Common European Framework of Reference for Languages (CEFR) is a widely used framework to describe language proficiency and supported for use by the Welsh Language Commissioners Office. The framework is divided into six levels, from A1 (beginner) to C2 (proficient) with level AO for no current Welsh language skills. 
• AO - No Current Welsh Language Skills 
• A1 – Beginner  
• A2 – Basic User  
• B1 – Intermediate User  
• B2 – Upper Intermediate User  
• C1 – Fluent User  
• C2 – Master User
• As part of the assessment, staff will be required to choose the most accurate ‘can do’ statements for listening, speaking, reading and writing, and choose the level that describes their skills best overall. 
• The aim of the new process is to simplify the process for staff, to increase the number of completions and to support annual reporting requirements. This includes Welsh language skills information reporting for Social Care Wales (SCW) Welsh data requirements for the statutory annual workforce data collection. Once the review is completed, piloted and fully implemented we will re-launch the self-assessment process with staff with the aim of increasing the numbers who have completed the information as part of their role. There is considerable work to be done to ensure that all staff complete the self-assessment process.

 

Training through the medium of Welsh

• As part of our commitment to promoting the Welsh language and supporting both fluent speakers and learners, we are proud to offer all of our mandatory training courses in Welsh. This ensures that employees who prefer to learn in Welsh can do so confidently and comfortably, while also reinforcing our dedication to a bilingual workplace.
• By making these essential learning opportunities available in both Welsh and English, we not only meet our legal and cultural responsibilities, but also actively encourage the use and visibility of the Welsh language across the organisation. This inclusive approach supports language development, respects individual preferences, and helps create a working environment where Welsh is a part of everyday professional life.

 

Courses delivered through the medium of Welsh

• There was 1 Recruitment and Retention training course delivered through the medium of Welsh, the same as 2023-24.
• There were 100 Health and Safety related training courses delivered through the medium of Welsh a decrease of 8.7% (10) compared with 114 in 2023-24. This slight decrease may be due to many factors including the timing of renewals for mandatory courses e.g. every 3 years. These courses included 17 Safeguarding Children, Young People & Adults, 18 Fire Safety Awareness, 23 Safer Manual Handling and 34 Violence Against Women, Domestic Abuse and Sexual Violence (VAWDASV) courses.
• There were no Performance Management, Complaints and Disciplinary and Induction training courses conducted through the medium of Welsh. This has been consistent for the last 3 years. Dealing with the public training is not provided.

 

Welsh Language Learning

• As part of Induction, all new employees are required to complete a 10-hour Taster course, unless they already speak Welsh.
• Recommended for all new employees, the Welsh Language Awareness e-learning module on the Pembrokeshire Online Development (POD) platform is designed to raise awareness of the Welsh language including awareness of its history and its role in Welsh culture. It also aims to help to develop an understanding of the duty to operate in accordance with the Welsh Language Standards and of how the Welsh Language can be used in the workplace.
• Courses at Entry, Foundation, Intermediate, Advanced and Proficiency level are also provided. Course registration data is used to monitor the numbers of learners and their progression for community and work based Welsh language courses and to support reporting within this report for 2024-25. Welsh language courses are available at various locations and times.

 

Community and Work Welsh Courses for Council Staff

Course	Work Welsh - number of learners
Taster / Blasu (online/ face to face)	93
Entry / Mynediad	36
Foundation / Sylfaen	26
Intermediate / Canolradd	5
Advanced / Uwch	3
Proficiency / Gloywi	5
Total learners	168

 

Course	Community Classes - number of learners
Taster / Blasu (online/ face to face)	1
Entry / Mynediad	19
Foundation / Sylfaen	31
Intermediate / Canolradd	18
Advanced / Uwch	21
Proficiency / Gloywi	4
Total learners	93

 

Overall learners = 261

• A designated tutor funded by National Centre for Learning Welsh delivers the Work Welsh courses to Council staff.
• During 2024-25, 168 staff attended Work Welsh classes and 93 attended Community courses at different levels. The figures include staff who completed at least one session in 2024-25.
• The overall total Council staff learners is 261, an increase of 28% compared to 2023-24 (203 learners).

 

Course Progression for Council staff

• Out of the 93 PCC staff in community classes there were 57 unique learners. Of these 57, 21 (37%) only attended one course/level and 36 (63%) learners progressed to the next course level.

Progressed from/to	Number of learners
Mynediad to Sylfaen (completed in one year)	1
Mynediad 1 to Mynediad 2	3
Mynediad 2 to Sylfaen 1	5
Sylfaen to Canolradd (completed in one year)	1
Sylfaen 1 to Sylfaen 2	5
Sylfaen 2 to Canolradd 1	5
Canolradd 1 to Canolradd 2	5
Canolradd 2 to Uwch1i	1
Uwch 1i to Uwch 1ii	2
Uwch 1ii to Uwch 2i	4
Uwch 3ii to Gloywi	4

 

Welsh Language Exams

• 3 Council staff learners passed exams in June 2024, 2 at Entry level and 1 at Sylfaen level.

 

Promotion and progress

• A new Entry / Mynediad class for staff was established to commence in April 2025 with associated pre-course promotion,10 employees have commenced the course. Current learners are also being encouraging to complete their current classes and to progress to the next level of learning.
• Increasing course uptake and completion, maintaining full attendance, and encouraging progression is sometimes challenging and highlights the need to consider how Welsh learners needs will be supported. There are many factors which impact on the above including work/family commitments, staff moving on to other internal or external roles, retirements, and vacancy management.
• In order to promote courses, details of Welsh language courses available have been shared with authority staff via internal communications via the “Pembrokeshire Focus” newsletter that is emailed to staff and the “Latest News” section of the intranet. Course details are also available on the intranet. A celebration of St Davids Day event was held in County Hall for Council staff which included Welsh language course information.

 

Learn Welsh Pembrokeshire Learners

• Learn Welsh Pembrokeshire (opens in a new tab) also offer courses which are available at various locations and times. Details of 2024-25 learners are provided below and does not include Council staff learners.

Course	Learn Welsh Pembrokeshire learners
Taster / Blasu (online/ face to face)	37
Entry / Mynediad	583
Foundation / Sylfaen	239
Intermediate / Canolradd	178
Advanced / Uwch	244
Proficiency / Gloywi	29
Total learning	1310

 

• Out of the 1,310 learners there were 880 unique learners some of which only attended one course/level, with others attending more than one course progressing to the next course level.

 

Welsh Language Requirements on Posts Advertised

• The designations of Welsh language requirements on posts advertised has remained largely static since 2020-21 across all designations.  The posts advertised include school posts.
• Posts designated as Welsh language essential have decreased slightly from 8% in 2023-24 to 7%.  
• Welsh language desirable posts have seen a small increase from 75% in 2023-24 to 78%.
• The number of positions requiring Welsh to be learnt has remained consistently low at around 1%.
• Welsh not required posts decreased slightly from 17% in 2023-24 to 14%.

Welsh language requirement on posts advertised	2024-2025 designation %
Welsh language essential	67 (7%)
Welsh language desirable	718 (78%)
Welsh to be learnt	7 (0.7%)
Welsh not required	129 (14%)
Total posts advertised	921

 

• Note: the information provided relates to posts advertised, a post may be advertised more than once.