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National Assembly for Wales (Legislative Competence) (Welsh Language)

I will come to that. I am glad that my hon. Friend has raised it because there was, understandably, much concern among mobile phone operators about any burdens placed upon them. From the point of view of Welsh mobile phone users, we want maximum competition; we do not want to bar entry to a new mobile phone operator offering a better service at a cheaper price. That is one of the reasons, as I will explain later, that we were persuaded by the Welsh Affairs Committee’s novel and ingenious suggestion in the requirement to be proportionate and reasonable about how duties are imposed. That will solve the problem that existed in the original draft of the LCO and will give protection to mobile phone operators who raised concerns with us and the Assembly. It had become quite a big issue and one of the biggest problems with the original draft. I make one final point to my hon. Friend before moving on, which is that, equally, British Telecom especially said that it wanted a level playing field for telecommunications. The technology is increasingly blurred between mobile and fixed telephones. BT did not want a competitive barrier to be put in place against fixed-line operators compared with mobile phone operators. That is why the solution that we have come up with meets such concerns. Thirdly, taking forward the order, we need to strike the right balance between the interests of those who use Welsh as their mother tongue and wish to conduct their day-to-day business in the language, and the large majority of people in Wales who do not speak Welsh. I want to build a broad, common-sense consensus in favour of the proposals, answering concerns at the same time as meeting the pressures for change. The final principle is that any duties—I mentioned this a moment or two ago, as did my hon. Friend the Member for Aberavon—should be applied in a reasonable and proportionate way. The Committee is right to highlight the need for Assembly Measures on the language to be reasonable and proportionate. The Committee made some specific recommendations to which I shall turn in a moment. Ensuring that duties are applied reasonably and proportionately is particularly important in the context of business and enterprise. No one would want to see the private sector discouraged from investing in Wales because of burdensome Welsh-language duties being inappropriately imposed on business. I do not believe that there is a ““one size fits all”” solution for delivering services in Welsh. For example, what is right in respect of a large public authority need not necessarily be right for a smaller, private-sector company. What is right for Meirionnydd may not be right for Monmouthshire. I know that the Welsh Assembly Government will want to consult closely with all stakeholders, including business, in developing its proposals for Measures. Close consultation with those who will be affected will be vital in building a further consensus around any proposed Measure.