Welsh Government
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Welsh Government responds to proposed Welsh language standards
The Minister proposes to build on the Commissioner’s consultation to develop a set of standards that will fully meet the policy aims reflected in the Measure and the commitments given to the National Assembly for Wales by the Minister at the time. These include:
- Clear rights established for Welsh speakers, with regard to Welsh language services
- To ensure that Welsh speakers and the organisations that serve them are as clear as possible about what those rights mean in practice
- To reduce the administrative burden on organisations required to deliver Welsh language services, so that they can focus on improving the delivery of those services
- To ensure more consistency between organisations with regard to the provision of Welsh language services.
At the end of November 2012 the Commissioner published 37 draft standards on the Welsh language following a non-statutory consultation undertaken by her between May and August 2012.
The Minister will not be accepting the Commissioner’s recommendations because the standards, along with the proposed implementation model, would not achieve the aim of providing clear rights for Welsh speakers to use the language of their choice.
There were concerns that some of the proposed standards appear to be beyond the scope of the Measure and that some contradict each other.
The model proposed by the Commissioner is more complex than processes currently used to develop Welsh language schemes, and would be a step backwards in reducing the administrative burden on organisations.
Also, a statutory standards investigation has not been carried out and the Commissioner has not provided evidence to assist with the preparation of a Regulatory Impact Assessment.
The Minister also believes that the Commissioner’s proposals would take until mid 2015 to implement, whereas he believes that it should be possible to implement standards sooner.
Leighton Andrews said:
“I have carefully considered the Commissioner’s consultation document – and have given full and due regard to her advice to me and to her proposed standards.
“I fully support the principle set out in the Measure, as reflected in the Commissioner’s proposed standards, that, in Wales, the Welsh language should be treated no less favourably then the English language. I also recognise that any Welsh language duties to be imposed on organisations need to be reasonable and proportionate.
“The work done by the Commissioner has been helpful and has moved the dialogue forward with regard to standards. Her consultation has been useful and her meetings with key stakeholders have served to raise the profile of the Measure and the language.
“My decision not to accept the proposed standards is based on policy considerations as well as legal advice. These standards are complex and I have concerns over their reasonableness and proportionality.
“In addition, I estimate that, following the process envisaged during scrutiny of the Measure, I would be able to make the first standards before the end of 2014. This would result in the first compliance notices being imposed quicker than in the Commissioner’s proposed model, whereby two sets of regulations would be made separately – both of which would require impact assessments and consultation. I estimate that following the process recommended by the Commissioner would result in a delay to at least mid 2015. Such a delay would be unacceptable to me.
“I remain fully committed to the Welsh language and want to see more people having the opportunity to use it in day-to-day life. As such I am keen to work with the Welsh Language Commissioner to build on her consultation exercise and seek a clearer and simpler approach to Welsh language standards.”
