Welsh Language
Correspondence
Public Health Network Cymru corresponds with members bilingually in line with Service Delivery Standards 1 – 7 of the Welsh Language Standards. When a new member registers to join Public Health Network Cymru they are asked of the language preference which is recorded on our members database. Currently all correspondence e.g. e-bulletin, announcement of events, is sent out bilingually.
When corresponding via email for the first time with individuals we keep a note of language preference on our team database. There is also a central Public Health Wales database which can be used to check language preference.
Meetings
Language preference is considered when conducting meetings in line with Service Delivery Standards 21 – 22. This is applicable to meetings with our Advisory Group or during meetings when planning events and conferences.
Publicity
Any material created to promote the work of Public Health Network Cymru is bi-lingual in line with Service Delivery Standard 33 of the Welsh Language Standards.
Documents and forms
Public Health Network Cymru has documents and forms which are built as part of our website function, examples include forms
- to join as a member
- to contribute to our webinars
- evaluation and feedback of our events
- annual members survey.
These are bi-lingual as per Service Delivery Standard 36 – 38 of the Welsh Language Standards.
Website
The Public Health Network Cymru website was refreshed in 2021 and is compliant with Service Delivery Standard 39 to 42 of the Welsh Language Standards.
Social Media
Public Health Network Cymru have a presence on Twitter, with an English and Welsh account and is compliant with Service Delivery Standard 45 and 46 of the Welsh Language Standards.
Courses
Public Health Network Cymru runs a number of webinars, training workshops and conferences during the year (referred to here as courses). These courses are on a variety of topics and themes and are aligned to our aim of ‘sharing knowledge from a diverse range of perspectives, including policy, research and practice to improve population health and wellbeing’. This aligns to Standard 63 of the Welsh Language Standard which applies to ‘“education course” means any seminar, training, workshop or similar provision which is provided in order to educate or to improve the skills of individuals’.
Events
Public Health Network Cymru may periodically run events such as workshops or conferences that are not specific to improving education and skills of individuals for examples collaborative discussions on research, policy interventions or action planning. Public Health Network Cymru may also co-run events with other partners aimed at persons in their professional capacity. These events will be considered and assessed on an individual basis in line with actions outlined in section 3.1 to 3.6 of this document.
Assessment of need
In line with Standard 63 of the Welsh Language Act, an assessment of need must be undertaken considering the need for that course to be offered in Welsh and offer the course in Welsh should the needs assessment indicate so.
Public Health Network Cymru has over 2700 members, of which currently 12 have indicated that their communication preference is Welsh. We do not hold a full set of data in relation to language preference due to members not completing their personal detail in full. Work is underway within our team to improve the data we hold on our members and to encourage them to complete their personal details in full.
Between 10/03/22 – 23/11/22 Public Health Network Cymru had 14,692 users visit our English pages and 33 on the Welsh Pages.
During our 2022 – 2023 courses we have not had any presenters or participants who have expressed a desire to participate in Welsh, or for the content of the courses to be delivered in Welsh.
Upon consideration of the assessment of need, we believe that the current need for Welsh specific courses is low. A re-assessment of need will take place on an annual basis (next assessment January 2024)
Current process
When our members register for a course they are asked their language preference and are able to contribute in Welsh during our webinars, workshops and conferences. To attend the live webinar you have to register (as a member or guest), there are no restrictions on who can register. However our target audience for Public Health Network Cymru is Professionals with an interest in improving the health of the population of Wales and its communities. These include:
- Public Health Wales professionals (central and local teams)
- Wider public health professions (e.g. Environmental Health Officers; School Nurses, Health Visitors)
- Academia
- Local Health Board staff
- Welsh Government
- Local Government
- Third sector organisations
- Private sector organisations
Approximately 90% of our members (but likely more, due to incompleteness of our data set) are from these sectors.
Anyone can register for and attend a course. Those attending the webinars are there to develop their own knowledge and skills and are not attending as representatives of their organisations. Therefore the course are aimed at individuals as per Standard 63.
During our courses presenters, facilitators and speakers are asked if they would like to contribute in Welsh and if so translation services are provided. Presenters and speakers on our courses from bodies that come under the Welsh Language Standards are encouraged to present any materials, e.g. PowerPoint bilingually.
During the webinar the chair will make a verbal announcement to inform participants are able to contribute via the chat bar in English/ Welsh and will have a response in their chosen language. This message is also conveyed in our holding slides which come up on screen prior to the webinar starting.
Our ‘courses’ like many others have a high rate of attrition from registration to attendance (average 40-60% drop off). The ‘courses’ are recorded live and shared with participants who registered to attend, but did not attend on the day. The live recording is then uploaded to our website with Welsh captions for others who may want to access the course at a time that suits.
Standard 32 of the Welsh Language Standards, states that public events must ensure that the Welsh language is treated no less favourably than English. We believe that we have implemented a high standard of good practice in relation to our ‘courses’ with presenters and participants having an opportunity to contribute in the language of their choice and correspondence is bi-lingual.
However, there is an exemption to Standard 32, which states that the standard does not apply to any recording of the performance, production, seminar or oral presentation. We have made reasonable inference that as we are recording our courses to enable people to take the ‘course’ at a time that is convenient to them, and that this criteria applies.
Standard 33 states that all publicity material of the body must be bi-lingual and our promotional material for the courses is produced bilingually. However we do not believe that our recordings of our courses fall under this category as it is not publicity material and instead fall under standard 32 as per the previous paragraph.
This website was reviewed in May 2023