PLANS have been laid out to encourage the use of the Welsh language at Ceredigion County Council meetings.

At a Language Committee meeting on Monday, councillors heard that steps were being introduced to “encourage the use of Welsh in public meetings in accordance with the requirements of the Welsh Language Standards.”
The meeting heard the council has developed a guide on chairing bilingual public meetings, while also producing scripts for non-Welsh speaking chairs of committees.

“The aim in chairing a bilingual meeting is to encourage everyone to use their preferred language and to make it perfectly natural and easy for people to use Welsh in diverse and new situations,” a report to the meeting said.

“It must be remembered that people need to be encouraged to use their

Welsh at meetings, people tend to use the language the Chair uses rather than the language they wish to use.”

The steps are requirements under the Welsh Language Standards.