ONLY 215 of Caerphilly council's 9,805 staff can speak Welsh, a new report reveals.

Its annual Welsh monitoring and improvements report was shown to the local authority's cabinet at yesterday's meeting.

The local authority must submit the report to the Welsh Language Board every year, with the cabinet yesterday recommended to endorse its submission by the deadline of June 30.

The report outlines Caerphilly council's commitment to providing the best bilingual service possible for its 170,000 residents and visitors, both fluent speakers and those learning the language.

However, it shows that since providing Welsh languages courses from beginners to A-Level 10 years ago, the numbers of staff on these courses initially rose, and then fell back.

In 2001/02, there were 46 learners, rising to a peak of 138 in 2005/06. The number had fallen to 98 in 2009/10 and there are 83 people learning Welsh in 2010/11.

The report, written by senior policy officer David Thomas states there have been 965 Welsh learners over the last 10 years, while the local authority is running a pilot scheme on its website, where staff can download files and learn at home.

It shows that of the council's 9,805 staff, 215 speak Welsh, which is 2.19 per cent.

Over the last year, the report shows that the local authority's Welsh language policy unit offered advice to departments on training, translation and development on 332 occasions, beating its target of 176.

A total of £43,850.42 has also been spent on Welsh medium provisions for youth clubs and pre-schools, including a 10 week health information programme delivered to 11 to 16-year-olds.

There are currently three dedicated staff working on corporate Welsh language issues for the council.

In the report, Mr Thomas said the council's commitment to Welsh language provisions was recently demonstrated with proposals for expanding Welsh medium education in the area.