Community council rapped for failure to help non-Welsh speakers follow meetings

A community council in Wales has been criticised for failing to provide ways for English speakers to follow its proceedings and for unreasonably preventing a resident from attending its meetings.

Llansannan Community Council stopped providing any translation facility at meetings and decided to prevent ‘Mr Z’, who does not understand Welsh, from attending them.

The Public Services Ombudsman for Wales’ report found maladministration, as there were no minutes or records of the meeting at which these decisions were purportedly taken.

Nor were there any evidenced grounds to exclude Mr Z, which could be properly done only if he had disrupted meetings.

“There was no evidence of any disruption when Mr Z had attended; the decision had been solely based on his conduct in daily life outside meetings,” the ombudsman’s report said.

“While not condoning that conduct, there was no basis to prevent Mr Z from attending.”

Llansannan was entitled to conduct business in Welsh but had not demonstrated how it would ensure non-Welsh speakers could engage with it as required by both Welsh Government guidance and by the council’s own adopted Welsh language scheme.

The council was recommended to apologise to Mr Z, review its policies on translation and ensure it recorded decisions.

Mark Smulian