Question to the Wales Office:

To ask the Secretary of State for Wales, what recent assessment he has made of the adequacy of the adherence to Welsh language legislation of public services in Wales for which the UK Government is responsible.

The Welsh language is a devolved subject and the responsibility of Senedd Cymru / the Welsh Parliament and the Welsh Government. Most public bodies in Wales are subject to Welsh language standards, made under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, in delivering public services. The Welsh Language Commissioner is responsible for ensuring that bodies fulfil their obligations in relation to specified standards.

Ministers of the Crown are not subject to Welsh language standards. In practice, this means most UK Government departments operate Welsh language schemes under the Welsh Language Act 1993. Schemes set out, so far as practicable, how departments treat Welsh and English on the basis of equality in respect of services they provide for Wales. The Welsh Language Commissioner approves schemes before they are implemented and departments report regularly to the Commissioner on performance against their respective schemes.

As lead department in UK Government for the Welsh language, the Office of the Secretary of State for Wales works with other government departments to improve Welsh language provision, most notably through the official-level, cross-government Welsh Language Forum.