Monmouthshire council in hot water over English-only sign policy

This welcome to both Wales and Monmouthshire sign, near Tutshill, is bilingual

The Welsh Language Commissioner found a council did not meet its standards when it changed its policy on naming streets.

Monmouthshire council had translated street names to Welsh when new signs were installed, but abandoned this.

The commissioner said it had not considered how this would affect chances to use Welsh, or whether it was treating Welsh unequally.

The council said it accepted the findings of the commissioner.

It added it remained "committed to ensuring that all new street names are Welsh-only or fully bilingual" and that Welsh was an important part of the county's culture and heritage.

The commissioner's investigation was sparked by a complaint from the public.

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It has now imposed 15 enforcement actions on the council to ensure it complies with standards when formulating or modifying policy in future.

Deputy commissioner Gwenith Price said the commissioner's main aim was to promote and facilitate the use of Welsh.

Deputy Welsh Language Commissioner Gwenith Price said Monmouthshire failed to comply with Welsh language standards

She added: "Organisations should not take decisions to do less for the Welsh language than they previously did, or to do the minimum where more progressive action in relation to the Welsh language was already being made."

Monmouthshire council said: "The commissioner's report found that we had fallen short of the standards relating to policy making in the case of our street naming policy.

"We have accepted the findings of the report and are working to ensure that these standards are fully complied with in future.

"We remain committed to ensuring that all new street names are Welsh only or fully bilingual."