[lg policy] Welsh Language Policy

Mon Oct 10 14:51:10 UTC 2011

Welsh Language Policy

1 Ffordd yr Hen Gae, Pencoed CF35 5LJ
Tel. 01656 641150 Fax: 01656 641199
E-mail: ask at ombudsman-wales.org.uk
Website:www.ombudsman-wales.org.uk
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales

Welsh Language Policy

Contents
1. Introduction 1
2. Service Delivery 1
3. Dealing with the Welsh Speaking Public 1
4. My Public Face 3
5. Staff Recruitment 5
1. Introduction
1.1 I support the principle established by the Welsh Language Act
that, in the conduct of public business and the administration of
justice in Wales, the Welsh and English languages should be treated on
a basis of equality.
1.2 I have accordingly produced the following policy, which covers the
services that I provide to the public in Wales.
1.3 In preparing my policy, I have taken into account guidance about
best practice issued by the Welsh Language Board.

2. Service Delivery

2.1 Delivering services: my normal practice will be to ensure that my
service is available to members of the public in Welsh. I will let the
public know when services are available in Welsh.
2.2 Standards of quality: services provided in Welsh and English will
be of equal quality and will be provided within the same timescale.
2.3 Actions undertaken on my behalf by third parties: any agreements
or arrangements which I make with third parties will be consistent
with this policy.

3. Dealing with the Welsh Speaking Public

3.1 General correspondence
3.1.1 My normal practice will be that when someone writes to me in
Welsh I will issue a reply in Welsh (if a reply is required). My
target time for replying will be the same as for replying to letters
written in English.
3.1.2 When I initiate correspondence with an individual, group or
organisation, I will do so in Welsh when I know that they would prefer
to correspond in Welsh.
3.2 Investigation of complaints
3.2.1 When someone puts to me their complaint about a public body in
Welsh, I will as far as is practicable undertake any resultant
investigation in Welsh.
- 1 -
3.2.2 Research by public service Ombudsmen has shown that complainants
expect a thorough and speedy investigation of their complaints. In
order to facilitate a timely investigation, I will request the public
body under investigation to conduct correspondence with me in the
chosen language of the complainant. This is because invariably such
correspondence will need to be forwarded on to the complainant. This
request is made to avoid delays by having to commission translations
into Welsh or English as the case may be. The vast majority of the
bodies within my jurisdiction are subject to the Welsh Language Act
and thus required to observe the principle that they treat the Welsh
and English languages on an equal basis.
3.3 Standard or circular correspondence
3.3.1 When I send standard or circular correspondence to several
recipients in Wales, it will be bilingual unless I know that all
recipients would prefer to receive it in Welsh or English only.
3.3.2 Enclosures sent with bilingual letters will be bilingual, when
available. Enclosures sent with Welsh letters will be Welsh or
bilingual, when available.
3.3.3 The above will apply to e-mail correspondence as well as paper
correspondence.
3.3.4 All hard-copy Welsh correspondence that I issue will be signed
and Welsh e-mail correspondence that I issue will bear a Welsh (or
bilingual) electronic signature.
3.4 Telephone communications
3.4.1 My normal practice is to ensure that the public can speak in
Welsh or English when dealing with my office by telephone.
3.4.2 My switchboard staff will answer with a bilingual greeting and
my main switchboard will use a bilingual message on its answer phone.
If the caller wishes to speak Welsh, my switchboard will try to
connect the call to a Welsh speaker qualified to deal with the
enquiry.
3.4.3 If a caller rings one of my office’s direct lines and wishes to
speak Welsh, but the person taking the call cannot do so, they will
try to transfer the call to a Welsh speaking colleague qualified to
deal with the enquiry.
3.4.4 If no Welsh speaker qualified to deal with the enquiry is
available, the caller will be given the choice, as appropriate, of
having a Welsh speaker phone back as soon as possible, continuing the
call in English or submitting their query in Welsh, by letter or
e-mail.
- 2 -
3.5 Public meetings
3.5.1 I will make provision for simultaneous translation from Welsh
into English at my public meetings unless I have established that all
participants are likely to use the same language.
3.5.2 Invitations and advertisements for public meetings will be
bilingual and either note that translation facilities will be
available or invite the public to let me know in advance in which
language they wish to speak.
3.5.3 I will let those attending public meetings know when translation
facilities are available – and encourage contributions in Welsh.
3.5.4 My normal practice will be to provide papers and other
information for public meetings in Welsh and English – and for reports
or papers produced following public meetings to be published in Welsh
and English.
3.5.5 When selecting staff to attend public meetings, my normal
practice will be to ensure that suitably qualified Welsh speakers
attend, as necessary.
3.6 Other dealings with the public in Wales
3.6.1 When I undertake public surveys, my normal practice will be to
ensure that all aspects of communication with the public will be
bilingual.
3.6.2 Whenever practicable, respondents will be asked if they wish to
respond to the survey in Welsh or English.

4. My Public Face

4.1 Publicity campaigns, exhibitions and advertising
4.1.1 All of the publicity, public information, exhibition and
advertising material I use in Wales will be produced bilingually, or
as separate Welsh and English versions. If the Welsh and English
versions have to be published separately, both versions will be equal
with regard to size, prominence and quality - and both versions will
be available simultaneously and will be equally accessible.
4.1.2 Any advertisements placed in English language newspapers (or
similar material) distributed mainly or wholly in Wales, will be
bilingual, or will appear as separate Welsh and English versions (with
both versions appearing simultaneously, and being equal with regard to
size, prominence and quality). In Welsh language publications
advertisements will be in Welsh only.
- 3 -
4.1.3 When staffing exhibitions stands and displays, my normal
practice will be to ensure that suitably qualified Welsh speakers
attend, as necessary.
4.2 General Publications
4.2.1. My normal practice will be to publish general material made
available to the public bilingually, with the Welsh and English
versions together in one document.
4.2.2 If the Welsh and English versions have to be published
separately (for instance, where a single document would be too lengthy
or bulky), both versions will be of equal size and quality - and my
normal practice will be to ensure that both versions are available at
the same time and are equally accessible. Each version will note
clearly that the material is available in the other language.
4.2.3 If not available free of charge, the price of a bilingual
document will not be greater than that of a single language
publication - and the price of separate, Welsh and English versions
will be the same.
4.2.4 The above will also apply to the general publications material
made available electronically on my website, on CD Rom or otherwise.
4.3 Website
4.3.1 My website will include pages in both Welsh and English and my
normal practice will be to provide Welsh versions of any interactive
pages on my website.
4.3.2 When designing a new website, or redeveloping my existing
website, I will take into account the Welsh Language Board’s
guidelines on website design.
4.3.3 Whenever I post English language publications on my website, the
Welsh versions will be posted at the same time, if available.
4.3.4 My website will include the text of the investigation reports
that I make public. As referred to at section 3.2 above,
investigations are conducted in the chosen language of the
complainant; the full text of the report posted on the website will,
therefore, be in that language. However, in all cases a summary of my
public reports will be available in Welsh and English, setting out
clearly the points of public interest involved.
4.4 Forms and associated explanatory material
4.4.1 My normal practice will be to ensure that all forms and
associated explanatory material for use by the public in Wales will be
fully bilingual, with the Welsh and English versions together in one
document. This will include interactive forms published on my website.
- 4 -
4.4.2 If the Welsh and English versions have to be published
separately (for instance, where a single document would be too lengthy
or bulky), both versions will be of equal size and quality - and I
will ensure that both versions are available at the same time and are
equally accessible. Each version will note clearly that the material
is available in the other language.
4.4.3 When other organisations distribute forms on my behalf, I will
ensure that they do so in accordance with the above.
4.5 Corporate identity
4.5.1 I have adopted a bilingual corporate identity. My name, contact
details, logo, slogans and other standard information will appear in
Welsh and English on all material which displays my corporate
identity. This includes my stationery - and material such as business
cards, identity badges, passes, tickets, acknowledgement cards,
compliment slips, and invitations.
4.6 Press releases and contact with the media
4.6.1 Press releases to the press and broadcasting media in Wales will
be issued in Welsh and English where deadlines permit - or according
to the language preference of the recipient media organisation or
publication.
4.6.2 When press releases are posted on my website, the normal
practice will be to post them in Welsh and English.
4.6.3 Where possible, I will ensure that Welsh speakers are available
to undertake interviews with the Welsh language press and broadcasting
media.

5. Staff Recruitment

5.1 In order that I may deliver my service in Welsh, I will need to
employ sufficient and appropriately skilled Welsh speaking staff.
5.2 I will identify those jobs where the ability to speak Welsh is
essential. This requirement may be defined as a component of a team,
or it may be attached to a particular job.
5.3 From time to time, I will undertake audits to establish the
number, ability and level of staff that can speak, read and write
Welsh (including staff that are learning Welsh).
- 5 -
5.4 The results of the above two exercises will be compared to
identify those areas where there is a shortage of Welsh speaking
staff. I will respond to any shortages through my recruitment. I will
also consider the possibility of transferring staff able to speak
Welsh to fill those posts where the ability to speak Welsh is
desirable or essential. When fluency in Welsh is considered to be
essential this will be stated in job competencies and advertisements.
5.5 When recruiting, staff recruitment advertisements placed in
English language newspapers (or similar media) distributed mainly or
wholly in Wales, will be bilingual, or appear as separate Welsh and
English versions. The Welsh and English versions will be equal in
terms of format, size, quality and prominence – whether produced as a
single bilingual version, or as separate Welsh and English notices.
Advertisements will be in Welsh in Welsh language publications. In the
English language media, posts where the ability to speak Welsh is
essential may be advertised in Welsh, with a brief description in
English. Recruitment advertisements placed in English language
journals (and other publications) with a UK-wide distribution may be
in English, unless the post is one where the ability to speak Welsh is
essential, in which case the notice may be fully bilingual, or in
Welsh with a brief explanation in English.
5.6 Where Welsh is not an essential requirement for a post, preference
will nevertheless be given to a Welsh speaker as between candidates of
equal ability and relevant experience.

Adam Peat
Public Services Ombudsman for Wales
July 2006

http://www.ombudsman-wales.org.uk/en/~/media/Files/Documents_en/Welsh_Language_Policy.ashx
************************************************************************************************

-- 
**************************************
N.b.: Listing on the lgpolicy-list is merely intended as a service to
its members
and implies neither approval, confirmation nor agreement by the owner
or sponsor of the list as to the veracity of a message's contents.
Members who disagree with a message are encouraged to post a rebuttal,
and to write directly to the original sender of any offensive message.
 A copy of this may be forwarded to this list as well.  (H. Schiffman,
Moderator)

For more information about the lgpolicy-list, go to
https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/
listinfo/lgpolicy-list
*******************************************

_______________________________________________
This message came to you by way of the lgpolicy-list mailing list
lgpolicy-list at groups.sas.upenn.edu
To manage your subscription unsubscribe, or arrange digest format: https://groups.sas.upenn.edu/mailman/listinfo/lgpolicy-list