Welsh language

When undertaking our Population Assessment we were required to consider how care and support services will be provided through the medium of Welsh. This is an important consideration for our region as the proportion of Welsh speakers is considerably higher in Carmarthenshire and Ceredigion than in Wales as a whole. This is not the case in Pembrokeshire, although it is still vital that services are available in Welsh for people within the community for whom Welsh is the language of choice.

A range of initiatives are in place across the region to improve availability of care and support services through the medium of Welsh and ensure that the requirements of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 and the ‘More than Just Words’ Framework are fully met. To support further improvements in this area we have adopted the Welsh language as an additional cross-cutting theme. We will establish a regional Welsh Language Forum, in addition to those already in place in each local authority area, which will enable a collaborative approach, achieve consistency in terms of services available in Welsh and facilitate sharing of practice and generate cross-regional initiatives as appropriate. This new forum will report on a regular basis to the RPB.