The Welsh Language Standards (No. 9) Regulations 2023

Made: 22 September 2023

Coming into force: 31 October 2023

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[^f00002] 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. 9) Regulations 2023.

• (2) These Regulations come into force on 31 October 2023.

• (3) These Regulations apply in relation to Wales.

• (4) In these Regulations—

• a “body” (“corff”) means a person falling within one or both of the categories of persons listed in Schedule 4;

• a “member of staff” (“aelod o staff”) means an employee of a body or an individual working for a body (and “staff” (“staff”) must be construed accordingly);

• a “qualifying person” (“person neilltuedig”) has the same meaning as in paragraph 2 of Schedule 7 to the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.

• (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 record keeping standards;

• (b) Part 2 defines a number of words and expressions.

• (3) Schedule 3 specifies standards that deal with matters which are supplementary to the matters dealt with in the standards specified in Schedules 1 and 2 and, in particular—

• (a) Part 1 specifies service delivery standards that deal with supplementary matters;

• (b) Part 2 specifies record keeping standards that deal with supplementary matters;

• (c) Part 3 makes provision about interpreting the supplementary standards.

Standards that are specifically applicable

3

The Welsh Ministers authorise the Welsh Language Commissioner to give a compliance notice to a body requiring it to comply with any of the standards specified under regulation 2 and Schedules 1 to 3.

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

PART 3 — INTERPRETING THE STANDARDS

The standards only apply to the extent that a body—

• (a) delivers services to a person, or

• (b) deals with any other person in connection with delivering services—

• (i) to that other person, or

• (ii) to a third person.

but it does not mean that Welsh language material must appear on the same page as English language material, or on a page that a person is likely to find before the English language page when searching.

SCHEDULE 2 — Record Keeping Standards

PART 1 — THE STANDARDS

PART 2 — INTERPRETING THE STANDARDS

SCHEDULE 3 — Standards which deal with Supplementary Matters

PART 1 — SERVICE DELIVERY STANDARDS

PART 2 — RECORD KEEPING STANDARDS

PART 3 — INTERPRETING THE STANDARDS

SCHEDULE 4

Qualifying persons—

• (a) who provide the public with water services (including supply or distribution), and

• (b) who, by virtue of an appointment under section 6 of the Water Industry Act 1991[^f00006], or by virtue of a variation of such an appointment under section 7 of that Act, are water undertakers for the whole or any part of Wales.

Qualifying persons—

• (a) who provide the public with sewerage services (including disposal of sewage), and

• (b) who, by virtue of an appointment under section 6 of the Water Industry Act 1991, or by virtue of a variation of such an appointment under section 7 of that Act, are sewerage undertakers for the whole or any part of Wales.

Signed

Jeremy Miles — Minister for Education and Welsh Language, one of the Welsh Ministers — 22 September 2023

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 water and sewerage undertakers set out in Schedule 4 to the Regulations (which are referred to in the Regulations as “bodies”). Water and sewerage undertakers are appointed under section 6 or by a variation of an appointment under section 7 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (c. 56).

The Regulations also authorise the Commissioner to give a compliance notice to those bodies, in relation to standards specified by the Regulations. This is referred to in the 2011 Measure as making a standard “specifically applicable” to a body.

Because the bodies which these standards relate to are within Schedule 8 to the 2011 Measure, section 37 of the 2011 Measure provides that only service delivery standards and record keeping standards can be made specifically applicable to them. A service delivery standard only applies to the extent that it relates to the provision by the body of a service specified in column 2 of the body’s entry in Schedule 8 to the 2011 Measure. In the case of the water and sewerage undertakers falling within Schedule 4 to these Regulations, the specified services are services provided to the public in the exercise of the functions of water undertaker or sewerage undertaker (as appropriate) for the whole or any part of Wales.

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 8 and 9 in relation to answering telephone calls), 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 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 3 to the Regulations specifies standards that deal with supplementary matters. These are specific forms of service delivery 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 and 2).

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 or by email at Cymraeg2050@llyw.cymru.

Footnotes

[^f00001]: 2011 nawm 1.

[^f00002]: The reference in section 150(2) to the National Assembly for Wales now has effect as a reference to Senedd Cymru, by virtue of section 150A(2) of the Government of Wales Act 2006 (c. 32).

[^f00003]: 1993 c. 38.

[^f00004]: 2006 c. 32.

[^f00005]: 2000 c. 36

[^f00006]: 1991 c. 56.