Welsh Language and Equalities - How we will work

It is important to be clear that the council remains committed to the promotion of the Welsh Language, equalities, and the Socio-Economic Duty - they are key principles to which we work across all our services, and run throughout the Corporate Plan.

Promoting the Welsh Language

The council has outlined its commitment to the Welsh language in its new strategy for 2023 to 2028, which seeks to:

• Increase the use of Welsh within Denbighshire communities, not least among children and young people by giving access to Welsh-medium education and community activities and promoting opportunities for social interaction in Welsh.
• Recognise the importance of a prosperous economy to the future of the Welsh language, and the council can offer strong leadership in terms of developing the Welsh language and promoting the area's unique culture and identity.
• Enhance our bilingual culture and ethos as an organisation, giving staff the confidence to speak in Welsh.
• Ensure that our services are underpinned by the Welsh Language Standards, and that residents feel comfortable that they can access services naturally through the medium of Welsh.

These commitments run throughout the themes of our Corporate Plan, and our progress in delivering on the above will be monitored by our Welsh Language Steering Committee.

Our equalities commitment

Our Corporate Plan includes, under the Equality Act (Wales) Regulations 2011, our four-year Strategic Equality Objectives. Combined with the supporting information and addendum that explains how we developed our Corporate Plan Objectives, which is published on our Equality, Diversity and Human Rights webpage, this makes up our Strategic Equality Plan. This revision of our objectives in 2024 is timely and will help align the business planning cycles of both our Public Sector Equality Duty (which is on a four-year cycle) and the Well-being of Future Generations Act (five-year cycle) when we come to consider the next iteration of our Corporate Plan in 2027. In considering this revision, we have again revisited the wealth of information that we gathered in our Well-being Assessment (external website); and in respect of the 2011 Engagement Provisions, through our annual Stakeholder Survey (most recently between September 2022 and February 2023) we have consulted widely with representative stakeholders in our communities on the content and relevance of our Corporate Plan objectives, particularly around the issue of equality and fairness.

During the lifetime of this Plan and beyond, we will ensure that in all areas of our work we:

• Engage with individuals and groups that represent people with protected characteristics or who are at a socio-economic disadvantage.
• Consider the appropriateness of facilities, services, and information that we provide to those with protected characteristics, or those at a socio-economic disadvantage.
• Engage, challenge and, where possible, remove barriers to opportunities (including work) for those with protected characteristics, or those at a socio-economic disadvantage.
• Take action against all forms of hate crime, discrimination, bullying or harassment.

Our progress in delivering on the above commitments will be monitored by our Strategic Equality and Diversity Group.