Welsh Language Scheme 2012
The Welsh Language Act 1993 required all public bodies in Wales to develop and implement a Welsh Language Scheme. Caerphilly County Borough Council's latest language scheme was approved on 13th March 2012 by the Council and on the 20th March 2012 by the Welsh Language Board.
The Welsh Language Scheme can be downloaded below and can also be obtained as a hard copy or in other formats on request.
Welsh Language Scheme 2012 (pdf 532kb)
Welsh Language Annual Report 2011-2012
All organisations that have a Welsh Language Scheme must prepare an annual report to the Welsh Language Board on how they are progressing against various agreed targets and measures.
Our latest annual report, is available to download below:
Welsh Language Annual Report 2011-2012 (PDF 882kb)
Delivery of services
Developing and implementing a language scheme means that if a member of the public wishes to conduct their communication (verbal, written or face-to-face) with the council through the medium of Welsh they are able to do so. This is achieved in a number of ways that involve translating; language and sensitivity training; recruitment and policy work.
The Editorial Policy 2012 notes what documents and publications are translated.
Facts and figures
Welsh is one of the oldest living languages in Europe and is one of 239 languages spoken in Europe and one of 18 spoken in the UK (Source - Ethnologue.com). It belongs to the Celtic branch of Indo-European languages, which also includes Irish, Scots Gaelic, Manx, Cornish and Breton and pre-dates Anglo-Saxon or Old English on the British mainland.
The 2001 Census figures show the following information for Caerphilly County Borough. This information will be updated with the 2011 figures once they become available:
| Population percentage and numbers who | % | Number |
| Understand spoken Welsh only | 2.8% | 4,747 |
| Speak, but do not read/write Welsh | 1.7% | 2,882 |
| Speak and read, but do not write Welsh | 0.7% | 1,187 |
| Speak, read and write Welsh | 11.2% | 18,986 |
| Total with a knowledge of Welsh to any degree | 16.4% | 27,802 |
Welsh in the Workplace Training
Training courses are organised for members of staff and councillors, to increase their ability to communicate in Welsh.
- Staff members should email cymraeg@caerphilly.gov.uk to enquire about classes.
- Members of the public should contact Coleg Gwent directly on 01495 333777 or email communityed@caerphilly.gov.uk to request a copy of the council's community education brochure, which gives details of all the Adult Education classes being run in Caerphilly county borough.
Promotion work
The council works closely with Menter Iaith Sir Caerffili on a number of projects to raise awareness about Welsh language matters and promote council and other services, public events and consultation in the county borough, including the highly successful Map of Welsh Language Activities, all of which are available through the medium of Welsh.
The council includes Linguistic Skills as part of the Strategic Equality Plan 2012 and covers not only Welsh but also other spoken languages and British Sign Language.