NEW duties on organisations to provide services in Welsh could be blocked in the Assembly if there are not major improvements - that's the suggestion from the three opposition parties in a joint letter to the First Minister released today (4th February). 

 

The first set of language rights, called 'standards', which will deal with Welsh language services provided by councils, the Welsh Government and national parks, will face a vote on the floor of the Assembly sometime in March. 

 

The letter to First Minister Carwyn Jones, signed by the Conservative, Plaid Cymru and Liberal Democrat language spokespeople, calls on the Government to strengthen the new duties: "We believe that you should adapt the standards... so that institutions can be empowered to improve over the next few years rather than standing still. Organisations need much better workforce planning, to ensure that services are offered in Welsh... Much more robust standards are therefore needed when it comes to recruitment policies, as there is nothing in the standards as they are to move institutions forward. Only by having a sufficient number of Welsh speaking staff, can organisations deal with customers in Welsh, and provide adequate Welsh-language service... [And] there needs to be a Standard or Standards that offers decisive action in the case of some organisations to move to internal administration through the medium of Welsh.   

 

The letter continues: "There needs to be a specific Standard or Standards placing a duty on organisations to impose language conditions when contracting work out to private companies and other organisations, in order to provide clarity about the duties placed on those bodies. A great deal of public expenditure is distributed by contracting, and this will become more important as the work of local authorities, for example, is given to private and voluntary companies... In the same way, there needs to be a specific Standard or Standards placing a duty on organisations to impose language conditions when awarding grants to anyone else. " 

 

Welcoming the letter, Jamie Bevan, Chair of Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg commented: "This is a clear warning to Carwyn Jones that there need to be significant improvements to the standards before they are supported in the Assembly. I'd like to thank the party spokespeople for backing a number of our demands to improve the new regulations. It's a brave step, and we are extremely grateful to them. The major danger with the new language rights as they stand is the lack of scope it leaves for bodies to improve, in particular, in terms of their employment policy and working internally in Welsh. Those elements are essential so that there's growth in the use of the language in our communities - recruitment failures are at the heart of very many problems organisations face.  

 

"On top of that, there are a number of loopholes about the Welsh language provision of services maintained through grants or by third parties, like swimming pools. These points have been made clear to the government by the Commissioner, and in many responses to the consultations last year, and we have met officials several times to raise the points. It's about time they listened." 

   

The group argues that the lack of a standard - the name of the new duties to provide services in Welsh - which places language conditions on contracts and grants is at odds with the Government's language strategy which promises: ‘to ensure that appropriate conditions in terms of use of the language are included as grants and contracts are awarded to private sector companies by public bodies’. It also goes against the Welsh Language Commissioner's advice to government. 

 

The latest consultation regarding the second set of language Standards, that place new duties on institutions such as universities and the police, closes this Friday  (February 6th).