Welsh Language Policy

Introduction

We acknowledge the fact that under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 the Welsh language has official status, and should be treated no less favourably than the English language.

We believe that it is good business practise to provide services in the language of choice of our customers. We also believe that it shows respect to our workforce to encourage and facilitate the use of their chosen language in the workplace.

We will ensure that we make constant progress towards achieving this ambition, and this Welsh Language Policy sets out our current commitments in relation to using Welsh and also, where appropriate, sets targets to help us develop our use of Welsh.

The scope of our commitments in this policy should be interpreted reasonably – they are limited to activities and services in Wales or which are delivered to people living in Wales, and also limited to activities and services which we are able to control or influence.

Please direct any comments or complaints about this policy to:

Becky Steen ( Service Manager ) Head of Service Wales

PSS
First Floor
Commodore House
Abergele
North Wales Business Park
Conwy
LL22 8LJ

Phone

01745 828000

Fax

01745 828010

Public Image

Signage

All our permanent signs are fully bilingual.

We will ensure that all new permanent signs are fully bilingual.

Corporate Brand

Our corporate brand is in English only.

Our stationery and business cards are in English only. We will ensure that stationery and business cards are translated before 01/01/2014.

Website and Digital Services

Our website will be fully bilingual upon completion, and will be definitely bilingual by 01/01/2014.

Advertising and Marketing

Generally, our advertising is in English only in the Welsh press. Our recruitment advertising is in English only, although we specify that Welsh is desirable in all posts advertised.

We produce a Welsh version of every outdoor advertisement, and ensure that we always display advertisements in both languages together. We will ensure that we produce a Welsh version of every new printed publication and we will ensure that we always distribute and offer publications in both languages together.

Exhibition and Marketing Materials

All our exhibition and marketing materials are bilingual. We will ensure that all our new or revised exhibition and marketing materials are bilingual in Wales.

Communication

Tracking Language Choice

We record and track the language choice of our business contacts and we will continue to record and track the language choice of our business contacts when developing or updating our customer relationship management systems.

Face to Face Communication

In order to ensure that our customers can communicate with our staff in Welsh as often as possible, we will ensure that we have at least one member of staff able to speak some Welsh in any workplace where there is contact with the public. We encourage staff able to speak Welsh to wear a Working Welsh badge when they are at work. We will promote our Welsh medium face to face services by using the Working Welsh badge scheme.

Telephone Communication

We answer the telephone with a simple Welsh greeting before transferring the call. Every member of staff is able to recognise and handle a Welsh language call with courtesy. We will develop our bilingual telephone services to ensure that all staff are able to handle, or refer, Welsh medium calls in a professional, appropriate and courteous manner.

Correspondence (Paper and Electronic)

At the moment, we generally write to people in English. We acknowledge our customers’ freedom to correspond with us in Welsh and we will respond in their preferred language wherever it is practically possible. We will give positive consideration to bilingualism when sending and receiving correspondence, based on the nature and purpose of the correspondence.

Forms and Account documents

Our forms and account documents are in English only, as they come from a central office in Liverpool.

Staff and the Workplace

Assessing Language Skills Requirements when Recruiting

We consider what level of Welsh language skills are required to perform all new roles in our organisation. We will consider and record what level of Welsh language skills are required to perform each new position in our organisation. We will consider and record what level of Welsh language skills are required to perform certain positions within the organisation e.g. where there is direct contact with the public.

Recording and Developing our Staff’s Language Skills

We keep a record of the Welsh language skills of every employee. We share information about each employee’s Welsh language skills within the workplace, so that we can direct Welsh language enquiries to the appropriate person. We will assess and record the Welsh language skills of every new employee as they join our organisation.

We acknowledge that in Wales, the Welsh language should be treated no less favourably than the English language. We include Welsh language skills in our staff management and training processes, and we arrange and/or provide relevant training for staff who want to improve their Welsh language skills.

Internal Communication

We recognise that each member of staff and customer has the freedom to use the Welsh with each other, as enshrined in the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 and we expect staff to respect the linguistic preferences of their colleagues and customers. We will support and facilitate the use of Welsh and English in the workplace by creating opportunities for staff to use Welsh regularly.

Internal Publications

Our internal publications are in English only. We will use more Welsh in our internal publications wherever it is reasonable to do so.

Welsh language software

We allow our staff to install a Welsh language interface for any software they use which has a recognised Welsh language interface.

Leadership

We will ensure that this policy is supported at the highest level in our organisation. We will appoint one member of the Senior management team to be responsible for implementing, championing and reviewing this policy.

Awareness

This policy will be conveniently available for the public to read. Every member of staff will receive a copy of this policy and direction on its requirements.

Review

We will assess and revise this policy every year. This Welsh Language Policy will be presented to the Welsh Language Commissioner. We will prepare annual monitoring reports on its implementation.

Services delivered on our behalf

We encourage every contractor or third party that delivers services on our behalf to comply with this policy.

Disclaimer

The Welsh Language Commissioner’s template was used to compile this Welsh Language Policy. However, the Welsh Language Commissioner is not responsible for monitoring the standard of our Welsh medium provision. Any enquiries regarding the implementation of this policy should be directed to us at the address given on the front page.