[lg policy] UK: Opposition to axing Welsh translations in Assembly

[Harold Schiffman]

Opposition to axing Welsh translations in Assembly

Sep 4 2009 by David Williamson, Western Mail

 THE team responsible for running the National Assembly may face a
court battle and a formal investigation into its decision to drop
Welsh translations of English spoken in the Assembly. Last month the
Assembly Commission confirmed that English passages would no longer be
translated into Welsh in the Record of Proceedings. Yesterday, it
emerged that the Welsh language pressure group Cymdeithas yr Iaith has
sought legal advice and will decide in a fortnight whether to
challenge the commission in the high courts.  It is understood the
Welsh Language Board is also seeking advice and may conduct its own
formal investigation into the commission’s decision.

It is further understood that in a letter on August 28, Assembly chief
executive Claire Clancy argued that the decision did not violate the
Assembly’s Welsh language scheme and that the board did not have the
power to launch an investigation. But Welsh barrister Gwion Lewis
believes a high court judge may well rule that the commission was
wrong not to consult with the Welsh Language Board before making its
decision.  Mr Lewis, a specialist in language law at London’s Landmark
Chambers, said: “Two years’ ago the Assembly signed off on a language
plan that said there’d be provision for a word-for-word bilingual
transcript. It also said that any changes to that plan would not be
made without first consulting the Welsh Language Board.

“We fast-forward to 2009 ... [and learn] that the Assembly Commission
has made a unilateral decision no longer to require what is said in
English to be transcribed into Welsh. They made that decision without
consulting the Welsh Language Board.”  He continued: “If a public body
says it will follow a particular consultative route before it makes a
decision, then the courts will expect that method of consultation to
be followed. If it goes back on what it says publicly, the court will
consider that – very likely in my experience – to be an illogical
decision... “It’s reasonable for them to expect a public body to act
in accordance with what it says publicly.”

The Assembly Commission – which includes Presiding Officer Dafydd Elis
Thomas, Plaid Cymru AM Chris Franks, Conservative AM William Graham,
Liberal Democrat AM Peter Black and Labour AM Lorraine Barrett –
argues the move will save £250,000 a year. But Dafydd Morgan Lewis, of
Cymdeithas yr Iaith, condemned the decision, fearing that it would
encourage other organisations to make similar cutbacks on Welsh
language provision. The society is confident it would win a legal
challenge and will give the Assembly commission a fortnight to reverse
its decision before going forward. He said: “Another concern was that
this decision would have a detrimental effect on the development of
Welsh language policy in the private sector. Their argument all along
has been that developing a Welsh language policy is too expensive, the
same argument that the Commission offers for cutting back on its
translating services. The private sector and the Assembly Commission
seem to be singing from the same hymn book.”

An Assembly spokesman said: “The National Assembly for Wales is in
ongoing talks with the Welsh Language Board regarding the decision to
discontinue translation of plenary meeting proceedings from English
into Welsh. The statistics show that use of the Record of Proceedings
in Welsh is very low indeed... “The Record of Proceedings will still
be bilingual with Welsh translated into English bringing the
arrangement into line with those for committees, which have been
operating for some time. The Assembly’s previous practice of
translating the English contributions into Welsh for the Record of
Plenary proceedings goes beyond the requirements in its Welsh language
scheme... “The decision brings the arrangement into line with the
proposals in the 2007 public consultation on the Record of
Proceedings, which was carried out in conjunction with the Welsh
Language Board. The public consultation received no objections at the
time.”

http://www.walesonline.co.uk/news/wales-news/2009/09/04/opposition-to-axing-welsh-translations-in-assembly-91466-24604035/
-- 
**************************************
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.
(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