Assembly Commission reinstates fully bilingual record and confirms its commitment to bilingual services
24 November 2011
The National Assembly for Wales Commission today cemented its commitment to bilingualism by agreeing a new framework to govern its bilingual services.
Central to that commitment is a draft Assembly Bill to place the duties of the Assembly and of the Commission in relation to the provision of bilingual services on a sound statutory footing, and to bring forward a new Official Languages Scheme under the proposed legislative framework.
The Commission also decided to reinstate a fully bilingual Record of Plenary Proceedings from January 2012.
This will be achieved by use of machine translation systems and the expert skills of translators for proofreading and editing purposes.
“I am delighted that the Commission has been able to confirm the commitment made in July of this year,” said Rhodri Glyn Thomas AM, the Commissioner with responsibility for the Welsh language.
“I believe that the proposed legislation and Official Languages Scheme confirm our desire for the Assembly to be an exemplar in this field.
“By using technology coupled with professional translators we are confident of providing a high quality Record of Plenary Proceedings in an efficient and sustainable way.
“The model we are developing will also benefit other organisations that operate in both Welsh and English. By using the technology for translating the Record, we will be enhancing its memory which will be free to use by organisations or individuals.
“The decision taken today confirms the Assembly Commission’s intention to continue to develop bilingual services to ensure that the Assembly’s work is accessible to the people of Wales in Welsh and English.”
At today’s meeting Commissioners considered responses to a three-month pre-legislative public consultation on the Assembly Commission’s bilingual services.
Other provisions noted in the draft bill include:
Defining in law both the Welsh and English languages as the official languages of the Assembly;
A requirement for the scheme to incorporate a mechanism for dealing with complaints of breaches of the scheme;
A provision for annual monitoring reports which will be laid before the Assembly.