A MONMOUTHSHIRE County Councillor has branded the Welsh Government’s demand for a cash-strapped MCC to find an extra £45,000 by March for the promotion of the Welsh language as ‘ludicrous.’

As part of the Welsh Government’s Welsh Language Standards Measure 2011, MCC, alongside other councils across Wales, have been tasked with providing a fully bilingual range of services by March 30, 2016.

It is estimated that implementing the standards could cost MCC an additional £45,000 per annum, which when combined with the £13,000 already spent on promoting the Welsh language would cost the tax-payer a sum just shy of £60,000

The proportion of Welsh speakers in Monmouthshire rose to 9.9 per cent at the last census. However many of these will be using Welsh as a second language and it is uncertain how many will chose to interact with the authority in Welsh when opportunities to use the language are increased.

Failure on MCC’s behalf to meet the demands of the Welsh Language Standards Measure carries an increased risk of fines for non-compliance of up to £5,000 for each breach upheld.

A spokesman fr MCC explained that although, “The additional costs of implementing the measure would require expenditure to be switched from other areas.

“At this stage of the analysis there is no specific impact anticipated on any of the protected characteristics.”

At a time when the authority’s budgets are being slashed and essential services are suffering, Councillor Debby Blakebrough (pictured) has slammed the decision by the Welsh Government as ill-thought out and explained that in an age of austerity it will anger many Monmouthshire residents that MCC are being forced to find such a large sum of money to promote a measure that many council tax payers would hardly consider a priority in an area such as Monmouthshire.

Councillor Blakebrough explained, “Firstly I would just like to stress I am not anti the Welsh language, I’m a firm believer in preserving it and would like to see a certain amount of money set aside each year for that very reason, but I’ve talked to residents in the county about these new measures and nearly all of them are frustrated at the decision to allocate so much money towards something which they believe has no real benefit to the community.

“They agree with me that that want to preserve and promote the Welsh language, but not at the expense to essential services such as education, public transport, highway infrastructure, and health-care.

“With the amount MCC are planning to spend on this measure you could employ two full-time school teachers.”

MCC’s cabinet met yesterday (Wednesday) to develop options and produce a a set of recommendations to ensure that the authority is able to meet the requirements of the standards in the most cost-effective way.

One of the key expectations the Welsh government has of MCC, is for the authority to offer a Welsh language telephone service in their contact centre and a Welsh language reception in Usk by March 30.

As a low percentage of MCC staff are Welsh speakers, and staff turnover in these areas is so low, to meet the government’s specified deadline, MCC are considering the option of recruiting an additional staff member who is fluent in Welsh at the estimated cost of £21.700 per year.

Other options include buying-into a virtual call centre to provide a first line response in Welsh.

An extra £25,000 is expected to be put aside so that agendas and minutes of any council meetings available to the public will be bilingual.

A further £1,500 will possibly be spent advertising to people that they are able to use Welsh at council meetings, and if 10 per cent of attendees choose to use Welsh then MCC must provide simultaneous translation.

Another £6,300 of taxpayer’s money has also been earmarked to ensure any brochures or leaflets providing public information, including press releases should be issued in both Welsh and English.

An estimated £400 will be spent to ensure all council webpages are available in Welsh, as are all corporate tweets and Facebook posts from MCC accounts.

Based on an estimated ten attendees, MCC are also considering spending £1,300 to provide opportunities for basic Welsh training for employees during office hours.

Finally, all council recruitment and all job descriptions must be made available in Welsh at an estimated cost of £3,000.

Councillor Blakebrough told the Chronicle, “Not only will the costs involved in this measure have a negative impact on other services the council provides, but the Welsh Government has used bully boy tactics to implement these measures. Basically if you don’t do what they want, you’re slapped with a heavy fine.

“I’m sure in areas of North Wales, such a measure will receive a different reception, but why can’t the powers that be use a modicum of common sense and allow each council to adapt to a broad set of guidelines in their own areas as they see fit?

“Remember this measure is being issued at a time when local authority budgets are being slashed and essential services are being slowly eroded, and come the next budget no doubt further cuts will be made.

“To me, and I’m sure many others in the borough, this measure will appear completely unreasonable, ludicrous, and will cost Monmouthshire and its inhabitants dearly.”

A spokesperson for MCC said, “In approaching this matter the authority recognises that the Welsh language is central to the goals introduced as part of the Well-being of Future Generations Act to ensure we are still able to maximise our contribution to a Wales of a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language.

“The implementation of actions to meet the standards also provide a timely opportunity to ensure our Welsh language facilities are suitable for purpose ahead of the Eisteddfod in 2016.”