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Government of Wales Bill

I rise to speak in support of Amendment No. 53 in this group. I agree with almost every word uttered by the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Conwy. He is an immense authority on the modern legal status of the Welsh language, he being the author of the expression, ““treating both languages on the grounds of equality””. The amendment addresses itself to the two significant issues which I raised at Second Reading. They are, first, the omission from the Bill of a duty by Welsh Ministers to treat the Welsh language on a basis of equality with the English language, and secondly, the equally significant omission of a duty on Ministers to promote and facilitate the use of the Welsh language in the good governance of Wales. The immediate effect of the first omission is significantly to weaken the present statutory infrastructure for the support of the Welsh language, which was created by the Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Government of Wales Act 1998. It is a backward step and therefore thoroughly unsatisfactory. The second omission denies the Welsh language the statutory support that the Government readily make available to other key areas of governance in Wales. Thus in Clause 73, Welsh Ministers are under a statutory duty,"““to sustain and promote [Welsh] local government””." Clause 74 creates a duty to promote the voluntary sector, and Clause 75,"““to take account of the interests of business””." Clause 78 imposes a duty,"““to promote sustainable development””." The Welsh language is also a vital element in the good governance of Wales. Its history goes back well beyond Magna Carta. It goes back to the creation of the Welsh nation itself. It is a part of the Welsh nation and can be said to be a part of the culture of Britain, yet a duty to support it is totally missing from the Bill. I suggest that a duty to support it is just as relevant, if not more relevant, if the language is to enjoy a realistic prospect of survival by the end of this century. I have a feeling, from what Ministers have said to me previously, that my noble friend on the Front Bench will once again not be reluctant to tell the Committee that the Assembly Government have consistently supported the Welsh language and they propose to adhere to that policy. But in reply, I cannot avoid saying, with deepest respect to my noble friend, that that would be a totally irrelevant argument, because the policy may change in the future, either due to a change of personalities or to a change of government. The fact remains that under the present Bill the Government are given a free hand to decide whether to promote the language. Can we accept that as right? I shall turn very briefly to the amendment. Subsection (1) is in line with Clause 73, relating to local government, or Clause 74 relating to the voluntary sector, or again to Clause78 relating to sustainable development. Subsection (1) refers to a ““plan”” instead of a scheme, but that is merely in order to avoid confusion with a Welsh language scheme. Subsection (2) is parallel to the duty of the legislature contained in Clause 35 and in Section 47 of the 1998 Act to which the noble Lord, Lord Roberts of Conwy, referred. Subsections (3) to (5) relate to reporting on the implementation of the plan and the scheme and an assessment of its effectiveness. They are not new. They are based on Clauses 77 and 78, being ““Equality of opportunity”” and ““Sustainable development”” respectively. I believe that the amendment will go some way in providing the statutory infrastructure for the Welsh language in the governance of Wales. Primary legislation will also be required to reform the substantial law itself, but that is for another day. I should add that the Welsh Language Board, which is the Government’s own advisory body on the interests of the Welsh language and its members are appointed by the Government, has agreed the wording of the amendment. I hope that the Members of the Committee will be able to support the amendment and that my noble friend Lord Evans on the Front Bench can be persuaded that the Government should think again about the merits of what is being proposed in the amendment.