LegalizeThe Welsh Language Standards (No. 8) Regulations 2022
Made: 13 July 2022
Coming into force: 31 October 2022
The Welsh Ministers, in exercise of the powers conferred upon them by sections 26, 27, 39 and 150(5) of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011[^f00001], having received the approval of Senedd Cymru in accordance with section 150(2) of that Measure, make the following Regulations:
Title, commencement, application and interpretation
1
- (1) The title of these Regulations is the Welsh Language Standards (No. 8) Regulations 2022.
- (2) These Regulations come into force on 31 October 2022.
- (3) These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.
- (4) In these Regulations—
- a “body” (“corff”) means a person listed in Schedule 6;
- an “individual” (“unigolyn”) means a natural person ordinarily resident in Wales acting in their personal capacity but does not include a registrant acting in their capacity as a registrant;
- a “member of staff” (“aelod o staff”) means an employee of a body or a natural person working for a body but not a board or council member of that body (and “staff” (“staff”) must be construed accordingly);
- “registered” (“wedi ei gofrestru”) means registered in a register that the body maintains by virtue of any enactment;
- a “registrant” (“un sydd wedi cofrestru”) means a person ordinarily resident in Wales registered with a body or applying to be registered with a body.
- (5) In these Regulations—
- (a) references to any activity being carried out by a body, or to any service being provided by a body, are to be read as including a reference to that activity being carried out on the body’s behalf or to that service being provided on the body’s behalf by a third party under arrangements made between the third party and the body;
- (b) accordingly, unless a compliance notice provides to the contrary, a body will have failed to comply with a standard in respect of an activity or service it has arranged to be carried out or provided by a third party if that activity or service has not been carried out or provided in accordance with the standard.
- (6) Nothing in these Regulations requires a body to comply with a standard in respect of an activity carried out by it or a service provided by it where it is carrying out that activity or providing that service on behalf of a third party under arrangements made between it and the third party.
Standards specified
2
- (1) In Schedule 1—
- (a) Part 1 specifies service delivery standards;
- (b) Part 2 provides that a compliance notice must require a body to comply with certain standards specified in Part 1 if it has required the body to comply with certain other standards;
- (c) Part 3 defines a number of words and expressions.
- (2) In Schedule 2—
- (a) Part 1 specifies policy making standards;
- (b) Part 2 defines a number of words and expressions.
- (3) In Schedule 3—
- (a) Part 1 specifies operational standards;
- (b) Part 2 provides that a compliance notice must require a body to comply with certain standards specified in Part 1 if it has required the body to comply with certain other standards;
- (c) Part 3 defines a number of words and expressions.
- (4) In Schedule 4—
- (a) Part 1 specifies record keeping standards;
- (b) Part 2 defines a number of words and expressions.
- (5) In Schedule 5—
- (a) Part 1 specifies standards that deal with matters which are supplementary to the matters dealt with in the standards specified in Schedules 1 to 4;
- (b) Part 2 makes provision about interpreting the supplementary standards.
Standards that are specifically applicable
3
- (1) The Welsh Ministers authorise the Welsh Language Commissioner to give a compliance notice to the persons listed in Schedule 6 requiring them to comply with any of the standards specified under regulation 2 and Schedules 1 to 5.
- (2) But the Commissioner is not authorised to give a compliance notice to the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care requiring them to comply with standard 20 and standards 23 to 32.
SCHEDULE 1 — Service delivery Standards
PART 1 — THE STANDARDS
that you welcome receiving correspondence in Welsh, that you will respond to correspondence in Welsh, and that corresponding in Welsh will not lead to delay.
PART 2 — STANDARDS THAT ARE RELIANT ON OTHER STANDARDS – SPECIAL CONDITIONS
| 16 | When a compliance notice requires a body to comply with one of the standards listed on a specific row in column 1 of Table 1, that compliance notice must also require that body to comply (in whatever way the Welsh Language Commissioner considers appropriate) with the standard or standards listed in column 2 of that row (or with one or more of those standards where that is stated). |
|---|---|
| Column 1 | |
| --- | --- |
| Row | Main standard |
| (1) | Replying to correspondence |
| (1) | Standard 1 |
| (2) | Corresponding with several persons |
| (2) | Standard 2 |
| (3) | Raising awareness about corresponding in Welsh |
| (3) | Standard 4 |
| (4) | Meetings with more than one person |
| (4) | Standard 9 |
| (5) | Meetings with more than one person |
| (5) | Standard 9A, 9B or 9C |
| (6) | Public meetings |
| (6) | Standard 10 |
| (7) | Public meetings |
| (7) | Standard 13 |
| (8) | Documents |
| (8) | Standard 19, 20, or 21 |
| (9) | Investigation that may lead to legal proceedings |
| (9) | Standard 26 |
| (10) | Investigation that may lead to legal proceedings |
| (10) | Standard 26A |
| (11) | Legal proceedings |
| (11) | Standard 30 |
| (12) | Legal proceedings |
| (12) | Standard 30A |
| (13) | Legal proceedings |
| (13) | Standard 31 |
| (14) | Legal proceedings |
| (14) | Standard 31A |
PART 3 — INTERPRETING THE STANDARDS
means publicity or advertising material, documents, forms or correspondence whether or not it is also produced for, available to, to be completed by or sent to persons outside Wales.
SCHEDULE 2 — Policy making Standards
PART 1 — THE STANDARDS
| 1 | Standards relating to considering the effects of a body’s policy decisions on the Welsh language |
|---|---|
| Standard 42: | When you formulate a new policy, or review or revise an existing policy, you must consider what effects, if any (whether positive or adverse), the policy decision would have on— opportunities for persons to use the Welsh language, and treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language. |
| Standard 43: | When you formulate a new policy, or review or revise an existing policy, you must consider how the policy could be formulated (or how an existing policy could be changed) so that the policy decision would have positive effects, or increased positive effects, on— opportunities for persons to use the Welsh language, and treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language. |
| Standard 44: | When you formulate a new policy, or review or revise an existing policy, you must consider how the policy could be formulated (or how an existing policy could be changed) so that the policy decision would not have adverse effects, or so that it would have decreased adverse effects, on— opportunities for persons to use the Welsh language, and treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language. |
| Standard 45: | When you publish a consultation document which relates to a policy decision, the document must consider, and seek views on, the effects (whether positive or adverse) that the policy decision under consideration would have on— opportunities for persons to use the Welsh language, and treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language. |
| Standard 46: | When you publish a consultation document which relates to a policy decision the document must consider, and seek views on, how the policy under consideration could be formulated or revised so that it would have positive effects, or increased positive effects, on— opportunities for persons to use the Welsh language, and treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language. |
| Standard 47: | When you publish a consultation document which relates to a policy decision the document must consider, and seek views on, how the policy under consideration could be formulated or revised so that it would not have adverse effects, or so that it would have decreased adverse effects, on— opportunities for persons to use the Welsh language, and treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language. |
| Standard 48: | When you commission or undertake research that is intended to assist you to make a policy decision, you must ensure that the research considers what effects, if any (and whether positive or adverse), the policy decision under consideration would have on— opportunities for persons to use the Welsh language, and treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language. |
| Standard 49: | When you commission or undertake research that is intended to assist you to make a policy decision, you must ensure that the research considers how the policy decision under consideration could be made so that it would have positive effects, or so that it would have increased positive effects, on— opportunities for persons to use the Welsh language, and treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language. |
| Standard 50: | When you commission or undertake research that is intended to assist you to make a policy decision, you must ensure that the research considers how the policy decision under consideration could be made so that it would not have adverse effects, or so that it would have decreased adverse effects, on— opportunities for persons to use the Welsh language, and treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language. |
PART 2 — INTERPRETING THE STANDARDS
| 2 | In Part 1 of this Schedule a “policy decision” means any decision made by a body about the exercise of its functions or about the conduct of its business or other undertaking, and it includes, amongst other things (and as appropriate to the body), decisions about— the content of legislation; the exercise of statutory powers; the content of policy statements; strategies or strategic plans; internal structures and office locations. |
|---|---|
| 3 | In Part 1 of this Schedule a reference to positive or adverse effects is a reference to such effects whether direct or indirect. |
SCHEDULE 3 — Operational standards
PART 1 — THE STANDARDS
you must state that applications may be submitted in Welsh and that an application submitted in Welsh will not be treated less favourably than an application submitted in English.
PART 2 — STANDARDS THAT ARE RELIANT ON OTHER STANDARDS – SPECIAL CONDITIONS
| 3 | When a compliance notice requires a body to comply with one of the standards listed on a specific row in column 1 of Table 1, that compliance notice must also require that body to comply (in whatever way the Welsh Language Commissioner considers appropriate) with the standard or standards listed in column 2 of that row. |
|---|---|
| Column 1 | |
| --- | --- |
| Row | Main standard |
| (1) | Recruitment and appointments |
| (1) | Standard 57 |
| (2) | Recruitment and appointments |
| (2) | Standard 58 |
PART 3 — INTERPRETING THE STANDARDS
| 4 | The standards specified in Part 1 of this Schedule must be interpreted as follows. | The standards specified in Part 1 of this Schedule must be interpreted as follows. |
|---|---|---|
| 5 | For the purposes of standards 57 and 57A only— “post” includes a public appointment; “public appointment” means any appointment to a public body or public office. | For the purposes of standards 57 and 57A only— “post” includes a public appointment; “public appointment” means any appointment to a public body or public office. |
| 6 | 6 | For the purposes of standard 57A the requirement to advertise a post in Welsh does not mean that the advertisement should be produced, sent, published, displayed, made available or issued in Welsh only. |
| 7 | 7 | For the purpose of standard 58A references to treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language includes, amongst other matters treating the Welsh language no less favourably as regards— the visual presentation of the material (for example in relation to the colour or font of any text); the size of the material; the position and prominence of the material in any public area; when and how material is published, provided or exhibited; the publication format of material. |
SCHEDULE 4 — Record Keeping Standards
PART 1 — THE STANDARDS
| 1 | Standards relating to a body keeping records |
|---|---|
| Standard 60: | You must keep a record, in relation to each financial year, of the number of complaints you receive relating to your compliance with standards. |
| Standard 61: | You must keep a copy of any written complaint that you receive which relates to your compliance with the standards with which you are under a duty to comply. |
| Standard 62: | You must keep a record (following assessments of your employees’ Welsh language skills made in accordance with standard 51), of the number of employees who have Welsh language skills at the end of each financial year and, where you have that information, you must keep a record of the skill level of those employees. |
| Standard 63: | You must keep a record, in relation to each financial year, of the number of new and vacant posts which were categorised (in accordance with standard 57) as posts where— Welsh language skills are essential; Welsh language skills need to be learnt when appointed to the post; Welsh language skills are desirable; or Welsh language skills are not necessary. |
PART 2 — INTERPRETING THE STANDARDS
| 2 | The standards specified in Part 1 of this Schedule must be interpreted as follows. |
|---|---|
| 3 | For the purposes of standards 60, 62 and 63 “financial year” means the body’s own financial year. |
SCHEDULE 5 — Standards which deal with Supplementary Matters
PART 1 — THE STANDARDS
| 1 | A body publicising standards |
|---|---|
| Standard 64: | You must ensure that a document which records the standards with which you are under a duty to comply, and the extent to which you are under a duty to comply with those standards, is available on your website. |
| 2 | A body publishing a complaints procedure |
| Standard 65: | You must— ensure that you have a complaints procedure that deals with how you intend to deal with complaints relating to your compliance with the standards with which you are under a duty to comply, and publish a document that records that procedure on your website. |
| 3 | A body producing an annual report regarding standards |
| Standard 66: | 1 You must produce a report (an “annual report”), in Welsh, in relation to each financial year, which deals with the way in which you have complied with the standards with which you were under a duty to comply during that year. 2 The annual report must include the following information (where relevant, to the extent you are under a duty to comply with the standards referred to)— a the number of complaints that you received during the year in question which related to compliance with the standards with which you were under a duty to comply (on the basis of the records you kept in accordance with standard 60); b the number of employees who have Welsh language skills at the end of the year in question (on the basis of the records you kept in accordance with standard 62); c the number (on the basis of the records you kept in accordance with standard 63) of new and vacant posts that you advertised during the year which were categorised as posts where— i Welsh language skills were essential; ii Welsh language skills needed to be learnt when appointed to the post; iii Welsh language skills were desirable; or iv Welsh language skills were not necessary. 3 You must publish the annual report no later than 6 months following the end of the financial year to which the report relates. 4 You must ensure that a current copy of your annual report is available on your website. |
| 4 | A body providing information to the Welsh Language Commissioner |
| Standard 67: | You must provide the Welsh Language Commissioner (if requested by the Commissioner) with any information which relates to your compliance with the service delivery standards, the policy making standards or the operational standards with which you are under a duty to comply. |
PART 2 — INTERPRETING THE STANDARDS
| 5 | The standards specified in Part 1 of this Schedule must be interpreted as follows. |
|---|---|
| 6 | For the purpose of standard 66, “financial year” means the body’s own financial year. |
| 7 | For the purpose of the standards a requirement to produce or publish any written material in Welsh does not mean that material should be produced or published in Welsh only, nor does it mean that the material should be produced in Welsh first (unless that is specifically stated in the standard). |
SCHEDULE 6
- General Chiropractic Council
- General Dental Council
- General Medical Council
- General Optical Council
- General Osteopathic Council
- General Pharmaceutical Council
- Health and Care Professions Council
- Nursing and Midwifery Council
- Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care
Signed
Jeremy Miles — Minister for Education and Welsh Language, one of the Welsh Ministers — 13 July 2022
Explanatory note
(This note is not part of the Regulations)
EXPLANATORY NOTE
The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 (nawm 1) (“the 2011 Measure”) makes provision for the specification of standards of conduct in relation to the Welsh language (“standards”). These replace the system of Welsh language schemes provided for by the Welsh Language Act 1993 (c. 38).
Section 26 of the 2011 Measure enables the Welsh Ministers to specify standards, and section 39 enables them to provide that a standard is specifically applicable to a person by authorising the Welsh Language Commissioner (“the Commissioner”) to give a notice to that person requiring compliance with the standard (a “compliance notice”).
These Regulations specify standards in relation to the conduct of the bodies listed in Schedule 6 to the Regulations. The listed bodies are:
- General Chiropractic Council
- General Dental Council
- General Medical Council
- General Optical Council
- General Osteopathic Council
- General Pharmaceutical Council
- Health and Care Professions Council
- Nursing and Midwifery Council
- Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care
Amongst other things, these bodies (apart from the Professional Standards Authority for Health and Social Care) may make decisions in respect of legal proceedings brought before them. The Welsh Language Act 1993 makes provision about speaking Welsh in legal proceedings in Wales.
The Regulations also authorise (subject to certain exceptions set out in regulation 3(2)) the Commissioner to give a compliance notice to those bodies, in relation to standards specified by the Regulations.
In accordance with section 44 of the 2011 Measure, the Commissioner may (by way of a compliance notice) require a body to comply with one or more standards that are specifically applicable to it. To reflect that, the standards specified by the Regulations are expressed in the second person narrative, meaning that they are in “you must” form (where “you” means the relevant body in each case).
Using the flexibility provided by section 44 of the 2011 Measure the Commissioner may (if it is reasonable and proportionate, and the Commissioner wishes to do so) require a body to comply with one standard in some circumstances and another standard in other circumstances. For example, if a standard is specifically applicable to a body the Commissioner may require the body to comply with the standard in some circumstances but not others, or require it to comply with the standard only in some areas. Similarly if two or more standards relate to a specific conduct (for example, standards 10 to 13 in relation to meetings), the Commissioner may (by way of a compliance notice) require a body to comply with one of those standards only, or with different standards at different times, in different circumstances, or in different areas; as is appropriate for the body. The Commissioner is not, therefore, obliged to require every body to comply with every standard.
In accordance with section 46 of the 2011 Measure, the compliance notice given to a body must state the imposition day, or imposition days; meaning the day or days upon which the body becomes required to comply with a standard (or comply with a standard in a specific way). Using the flexibility provided for by section 46, the Commissioner may set an early imposition day for a body to comply with a standard (provided this is at least 6 months after the date on which the body was given the related compliance notice), or set an imposition day further in the future (for example in relation to more challenging standards).
Where a standard specified in these Regulations requires written material to be displayed or provided in Welsh, or for a service to be provided in Welsh, this does not mean that the material must be displayed or provided in Welsh only, or that the service must only be provided in Welsh (unless that is specifically stated).
Schedule 1 to the Regulations specifies service delivery standards. Section 28 of the 2011 Measure provides that a “service delivery standard” means a standard that relates to a service delivery activity, and is intended to promote or facilitate the use of the Welsh language, or to work towards ensuring that the Welsh language is treated no less favourably than the English language when that activity is carried out. A “service delivery activity” means a person delivering services to another person, or dealing with any other person in connection with delivering services to that other person, or to a third person.
Schedule 2 to the Regulations specifies policy making standards. Section 29 of the 2011 Measure provides that a “policy making standard” means a standard that relates to a policy decision, and is intended to secure, or to contribute to securing, that the person making the policy decision considers one or more of the following—
- (a) what effects, if any, (whether positive or adverse) the policy decision would have on opportunities for people to use the Welsh language, or on treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language;
- (b) how the decision could be made so that the decision has positive effects, or increased positive effects, on opportunities for people to use the Welsh language, or on treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language;
- (c) how the decision could be made so that the decision does not have adverse effects, or has decreased adverse effects, on opportunities for other persons to use the Welsh language, or on treating the Welsh language no less favourably than the English language.
Schedule 3 to the Regulations specifies operational standards. Section 30 of the 2011 Measure provides that an “operational standard” means a standard that relates to the functions, or a business or other undertaking (“relevant activities”) of a person (“A”), that is intended to promote or facilitate the use of the Welsh language—
- (a) by A in carrying out A’s relevant activities,
- (b) by A and another person in dealings between them in connection with A’s relevant activities, or
- (c) by a person other than A in carrying out activities for the purposes of, or in connection with, A’s relevant activities.
Schedule 4 to the Regulations specifies record keeping standards. Section 32 of the 2011 Measure provides that a “record keeping standard” is a standard relating to the keeping of records about other specified standards, records about complaints concerning compliance with other specified standards, or records about other complaints concerning the Welsh language.
Schedule 5 to the Regulations specifies standards that deal with supplementary matters. These are specific forms of service delivery standards, policy making standards, operational standards and record keeping standards that deal with the matters referred to in section 27(4) of the 2011 Measure (which are supplementary to the matters dealt with in Schedules 1 to 4).
The Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Welsh Language Unit, Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ.
Footnotes
[^f00001]: 2011 nawm 1 .
[^f00002]: Section 22 of the Welsh Language Act 1993 (c. 38) makes provision about speaking Welsh in legal proceedings in Wales.
[^f00003]: 1993 c. 38.
[^f00004]: 2006 c. 32.
[^f00005]: 2000 c. 36.
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