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 Charles Clarke (Labour) on Tuesday, 11 October 2005 on behalf of the Home Office.

Telephone Inquiries

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

Answer: The information is as follows.(a) The Central Home Office telephone points for the Home Office, including the Immigration and Nationality Department, do not have facilities for handling calls in Welsh. Her Majesty's Prison Service will handle calls in Welsh via their regional office. Any caller contacting the UK Passport Service call centre from a land line in Wales will be offered the option of continuing the call in Welsh or English.(b) and (c) No part of the Department has facilities to handle telephone calls in Scots Gaelic or Irish Gaelic.The Department and its agencies do have approved Welsh Language Schemes.

Secondary information