The Welsh Language Commissioner in Context: Roles, Methods and Relationships by Diarmait Mac Giolla

Author:Diarmait Mac Giolla [Giolla, Diarmait Mac]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Political Science, Nationalism & Patriotism, General, Political Ideologies
ISBN: 9781783169061
Google: IvazDQAAQBAJ
Goodreads: 30897459
Publisher: University of Wales Press
Published: 2016-07-15T00:00:00+00:00

Conclusions

The Welsh language regulatory regime is currently populated by a more diverse range of statutory instruments through which regulatory standards for Welsh language service delivery are set than was the case prior to the 2011 Measure. Many organisations, of course, are subject to Standards, and others will be brought within their scope. However, not only will some Schemes continue in operation – the Commissioner has also recognised as much99 – but a wholly distinctive regulatory regime has been created for one organisation on its own. Specifically, the Wales Office confirmed in early 2015 that Welsh Language Schemes, as framed by the 1993 Act, form the basis for the delivery of Welsh language services for UK government departments100 and will continue to do so as, ‘The UK Government is committed to developing and enhancing its Welsh language provision by ensuring a more rigorous application of Welsh language schemes under the 1993 Act.’101 Nowhere is it stated that the UK government is minded to consider that its Ministers approve that they be brought within the scope of the Measure and be subject to the authority of the Commissioner and Welsh Language Standards. Thus, the conclusion of the Bench with regards the case of NS&I that ‘public bodies, including government departments and Crown bodies, must be able to change policy to fit changing circumstances, including changes in political priorities’102 (author’s italics) will certainly hold. In addition, given the fact that Schemes are still in force, and many are likely to remain in force for some time yet, and given the doubt cast upon the content of the Board’s statutory guidelines from 1996 by the Bench during the course of the judicial review, it would appear to be worth attending to their revision. The diversity of the regulatory regime is also reflected in the fact that the Commission of the National Assembly for Wales, despite its status as a Crown body, does not fall within the scope of the Measure, as do certain other ‘Welsh’ Crown bodies, neither may it be brought within the scope of the Measure with the consent of the Secretary of State, as with ‘non-Welsh’ Crown bodies. It has instead its own Official Languages Scheme. The Assembly could have determined that the Commission, as a body apart from the Assembly itself, fall within the scope of the Measure, but that it did not do so means that the Commission has a Welsh language regulatory regime which is unique. Complaints about the Commission’s Scheme may only be dealt with by the PSOW. As regards ‘the Crown’ in particular and its relationship to the Welsh language in public life, as things currently stand it is sometimes subject to the Commissioner with particular powers under the 2011 Measure, sometimes subject to the Commissioner with other very different powers under the 1993 Act, and sometimes not subject to the Commissioner at all. In other cases it is subject to the powers of the PSOW. This variation suggests that the Welsh language regulatory regime comprises

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