Ceredigion County Council website

Since 30 March 2016, Ceredigion County Council has committed to the Welsh Language Standards set by the Welsh Language Commissioner under Section 44 of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.

The purpose of the Standards is to:

• Provide greater clarity to organisations about their duties regarding the Welsh Language
• Provide greater clarity to Welsh speakers about the services they can expect to receive in Welsh
• Ensure greater consistency of Welsh language services and improve their quality

The requirements of the Welsh Language Standards impose a duty on Ceredigion County Council under which the Council should not treat the Welsh language less favourably than the English language, and also the need to promote and facilitate use of the Welsh language making it easier for people to use their Welsh language skills in their everyday lives. This supports the Council’s aim of continuing to improve the provision of services through the medium of Welsh.

The Welsh Language Standards are arranged under 5 main Standards:

• Service Delivery Standards - focusing on providing services. Their aim is to promote and facilitate the use of Welsh or to ensure that the Welsh language is not treated less favourably than the English language in service provision.
• Policy Making Standards - these Standards ask Officers to consider the effect that their policy making decisions may have on people's opportunities to use Welsh and the guiding principle not to treat the Welsh language less favourably than the English language. Officers are encouraged to use the Integrated Impact Assessment Tool when developing proposals, making policy decisions or reviewing existing policies, or when making a reduction or closure of service.
• Operational Standards - these Standards deal with the way in which the Council use Welsh internally and promotes the concept of a bilingual workplace, affording some rights to employees in the context of receiving their HR Service in their language of choice.
• Promotion Standards - these Standards ask organisations to adopt a promotional strategy setting out how the Local Authority proposes to promote and facilitate the use of Welsh more widely within the communities it serves, and will involve some partnership work. Ceredigion Bilingual Future Forum has developed a Welsh Language Strategy for Ceredigion.
• Record Keeping Standards – these Standards deal with data and recording systems relating to the other Standards, along with a complaints procedure. It also includes methods to record service-users language preferences, staff language skills, training and recruitment.

Welsh Language Complaints

If you would like to make a complaint relating to the council’s compliance with the Welsh Language Standards or a failure on the council’s part to provide a bilingual service, please use the council's complaints procedure on the Comments, Compliments and Complaints page.

You also have a right to direct any complaints relating to the Welsh language to the Welsh Language Commissioner: Welsh Language Commissioner's Website.