A council has been urged to reconsider a plan to restructure its Welsh language immersion centres despite growing budgetary pressures.

As part of planned cuts to help balance the books following the loss of Welsh Government grant funding, Gwynedd Council is planning to slash the available funding for its immersion centres by £96,000 from September – which could see one of the centres closed or the facilities staffed by fewer teachers.

The centres offer intensive language sessions for children from other parts of the UK and abroad who move into the county unable to speak Welsh, meaning they are at least partially fluent when joining their local school. At present, the five centres are based in Dolgellau, Llangybi, Caernarfon, Penrhyndeudraeth and Porthmadog.

But, during a meeting of Gwynedd’s education and economy scrutiny committee, many members feared the impact of such cuts and urged decision-makers to reconsider.

The committee had been asked to recommend how the cuts should be implemented, whether through shutting one of the centres or keeping all of them open with changes to the staffing structure.

During the 90-minute discussion, Cllr Alwyn Gruffydd said he could not recommend any of the proposals as they would reduce the efficiency of the service, which has served 7,000 children since its implementation 35 years ago.

“This is a cause for real concern as the service has gone such a long way to keeping the Welsh ethos within our schools,” he said.

“These centres, in the space of just a few weeks, are able to turn children who don’t speak a word of Welsh into young Welsh citizens by implementing a feeling of Welshness.

“This resource is priceless and has helped Gwynedd’s schools hold their own in terms of the Welsh language.

“I can’t understand this mindset that the cost should override everything else.”

According to the report presented to members, the authority was facing additional costs due to inflation as well as a 10 per cent cut in the Welsh Government’s Education Improvement Grant (EIG).