Written question asked by Angus Brendan MacNeil (Scottish National Party) on Tuesday, 19 July 2005, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 21 July 2005. It was answered by Lord Knight of Weymouth (Labour) on Wednesday, 5 October 2005 on behalf of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.

Telephone Inquiries

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs what facilities her Department has to deal with telephone inquiries in (a) Welsh, (b) Scots Gaelic and (c) Irish Gaelic.

Answer: Telephone inquiries received in Welsh are dealt with in accordance with Defra's Welsh Language Scheme which came into force in October 2002. This requires operators in offices dealing with the public in Wales to answer calls bilingually and to have a system whereby calls in Welsh taken by staff who cannot speak Welsh can be transferred to a Welsh-speaker. Defra does not currently have facilities for dealing with telephone inquiries in Scots or Irish Gaelic.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 14696; 436 c2808W;436 c2834W
Session: 2005-06
Subjects: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs Languages Telephone services