More support needed for national park staff to use Welsh

Elgan Hearn, Local Democracy Reporter

More needs to be done to encourage staff at a national park to have the confidence to use Welsh, a review by authority members has said.

At a meeting of the authority on Friday, September 26, Bannau Brycheiniog National Park Authority (BBNPA) members brought up the Welsh language during a review of minutes from meetings earlier this year, as well as the actions arising from these.

Cllr Huw Williams (Powys) brought up the results of the “audit” conducted into the Welsh language skills of BBNPA’s workforce.

Members of BBNPA are a mixture of Welsh Government appointed members and councillors appointed from the local authorities in which the national park is situated – Powys, Merthyr Tydfil, Monmouthshire, Blaenau Gwent, Torfaen and Rhondda Cynon Taf.

He asked if the “five” fluent Welsh speakers were part of the workforce or if the data was wider and included details of volunteers as well.

Welsh Language Standards report

The audit details were included as part of the authority’s annual Welsh Language Standards report for 2024/2025 which had been discussed by members and agreed back in May.

Cllr Williams said: “I’m surprised the figures are so low really. I know a few members of staff, maybe the few that speak Welsh, and we should be encouraging the language.”

He pointed out that the number of Welsh speakers on the board had increased.

Cllr Williams asked if staff were encouraged to greet people on the phone by using “bore da” (good morning) and other basic Welsh phrases.

Cllr Williams said: “The farming community is the core of Welsh language speaking in the area and unless we engage with them in Welsh we are missing a trick.”

Cllr Edwin Roderick: (Powys) recalled that staff in the past had received Welsh lessons during the week.

Cllr Roderick: “We need to ensure that more of the staff are being taught to speak Welsh and have the confidence to try.”

‘Very important’

Chief Executive Catherine Mealing-Jones said: “This is very important to us as an authority – I was also surprised that the number reported was low and it’s probably what we would call fluent Welsh speakers.

“We do have a lot of colleagues that are at various stages of learning.

“We did get an (award) nomination last year for the work we were doing to encourage Welsh in our workforce.”

She said that the authority would continue to promote staff speaking Welsh.

Ms Mealing-Jones added that there are some “really good resources coming out all the time for learners”

Independent lay member Aled Edwards said: “We need to be kind with ourselves at this point- we’re not the only ones where there is a disparity between what is the living reality and what is the statistical record.

“Being a Welsh speaker means many different things.”

“If you can say bore da, p’nawn da or diolch yn fawr (good morning, good afternoon, thank you) it means you are included in the Welsh speaking experience, and we have to delight in that.”

Welsh Language Standards are a legal framework that ensures that the Welsh language is not treated less favourably than the English language by public bodies in Wales.