Cornwall Council and the Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities

In June, I was one of five councillors appointed to a Council working group with the primary purpose of drafting a three year action plan to satisfy the provisions of the Framework Convention which, since April last year, has covered the Cornish.

At today’s Constitution and Governance Committee – it is as exciting as it sounds – it was agreed that the membership of the working group be extended with the co-option of three Bards from Gorsedh Kernow. The meeting also noted progress to date.

The report and associated appendix can be viewed at:

https://democracy.cornwall.gov.uk/ieListDocuments.aspx?CId=924&MId=6486&Ver=4

It was also reported that the Council (i) had responded to the Government’s consultation on the 2021 Census and requested that the Office of National Statistics include separate tick boxes for Cornish within the "ethnicity" and "language" sections; and (ii) revised its Cornish Language policy in the light of the Framework Convention, which will be considered by the Economy and Culture PAC on 6 October.

It was further reported that the working group will respond to the Government’s consultation on its BBC Charter Review requesting, amongst other things, the introduction of Cornish language programme services.