Question to the Home Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what translation arrangements her Department has put in place to enable efficient and accurate handling of Welsh language correspondence from (a) MPs and (b) the general public.

The Home Office is committed to ensuring that the needs of Welsh language speakers are recognised and met, in accordance with the requirements of our Welsh Language Scheme.

The Home Office is committed to providing an equally high standard of service in Welsh and English. The Department’s Welsh Language Scheme states:

‘Members of the public who deal with the Home Office will be able and welcome to do so in Welsh as well as English. If a member of the public in Wales writes to the Department in Welsh, the Department will:

• reply in Welsh; and
• do so within the same target date for replies as for those who write in English.’

This principle is applied to all correspondence that is received by the department, including e-mail as well as paper correspondence.

Should an MP correspond with the department in Welsh, the department will respond in Welsh and will do so within the same target date for those who write in English.

All of our Welsh translations are provided by a specialist external service.