Written Statement by the Assembly Commission on the bilingual services provided by the National Assembly for Wales Commission

A meeting was held today between Assembly Commissioners and Assembly Members who had signed the no name day motion tabled on 21 September 2009.

The meeting discussed the Commission's recent decision to publish a translation from English to Welsh of the record of plenary proceedings within 10 daysrather than 24 hours and, from this week, to introduce the translation of legislation committee proceedings relating to Measures. It was agreed that the timescalefor the plenary recordshould be reduced to 3 - 5 working days and that theissue will form part ofa full and transparent review to examine all the options for the delivery of bilingual services. The review will start as soon as possible, will involve consultation with members, and will be completed by the end of January.

It was also agreed that any changes recommended by the review to arrangements for the translation of plenary proceedings, would be implemented and, more broadly, that the recommendations from the independent review will provide the basis for public consultation on how the National Assembly's Welsh language scheme should be revised.