Welsh Language Standards Annual Monitoring Report - 2022-2023

During the period 2022-23, a total of eight full-time staff worked in the Electoral Commission's Wales Office, three of whom were fluent Welsh speakers. We currently have 171 staff working across the UK. During the 2022-23 financial year an audit of the Welsh language ability of all staff working for the Electoral Commission in Wales was undertaken using the recognised Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR). Staff members assessed their own level.
Levels range from Basic user (A1, A2) independent user (B1, B2) and proficient user (C1, C2) in five categories (listening, reading, spoken interaction, spoken production and writing). 
 

All relevant staff in Wales are able to greet others through the medium of Welsh, and will do so when answering all telephone calls. They also refer stakeholders or members of the public to our Welsh speaking staff and services if required.

Staff in Wales have the ability to attend Welsh lessons with the support of the organisation, and are encouraged to improve their Welsh language skills.

No members of staff attended courses through the medium of Welsh during the past year. However, in accordance with Standard 124, staff are aware that training courses offered in-house are available through the medium of Welsh, if so desired.   

In addition to the information we provide in relation to our internal use of Welsh policy, we provide our members with useful Welsh terms and phrases. These terms encourage staff who do not have Welsh language skills to greet people in Welsh, and use some Welsh every day. These terms encourage staff who do not have Welsh language skills to greet people in Welsh and use some Welsh every day.

In the past financial year, we advertised the following posts:
•    Senior Policy Advisor (full time post)
•    Support and Information Advisor (full time post)

Both posts were advertised externally and bilingually and Welsh language skills were identified as desirable for both roles.
 

This section addresses complaints in relation to service delivery issues, policy formulation, and implementation. This covers any complaints made directly to the any of the Electoral Commission's UK offices. 

We have put measures in place to ensure that members of the public can submit a complaint through the medium of Welsh, and that is then responded to in Welsh. 

During the financial year 2022-2023 no complaints were received surrounding these issues.

We have measures in place to ensure that all our correspondence with stakeholders in Wales is sent bilingually. In addition, measures are in place to ensure that any correspondence we receive in Welsh receives a reply in Welsh. 

Measures are in place to ensure that all members of the public who contact us by email or telephone can do so in Welsh, and that doing so will not delay an answer. If a member of the public calls us and wishes to use the Welsh language, they can do so. If no Welsh speaker is available at that time, the person will be given the option of recall as soon as a Welsh speaker is available.
 
We have a Welsh language telephone service that transfers directly to a Welsh speaking member of staff. With three fluent Welsh speakers working at one time in the Wales team, there is little risk that the call will not be answered within a reasonable time.

All of our publicity and advertising material in Wales, or containing information relevant to Wales, is produced bilingually. In addition, a significant proportion of our publicity and advertising material that does not necessarily affect Wales, or is not aimed specifically at Welsh audiences, is also translated. This is mainly to ensure that our website is bilingual.

All campaigns conducted in Wales, or relating to Wales, are bilingual. Work continued on our bilingual 'Croeso i’ch Pleidlais / Welcome to Your Vote' campaign set up in the financial year 2019-2020, and which ran ahead of the local government elections in 2022. The campaign was aimed at those voters who were newly enfranchised as a result of the Local Government and Elections (Wales) Act 2021.

Work also continued on the 'Oes 5 ‘da ti /Got 5' Campaign that was launched in 2020-21. This campaign encouraged people to register to vote ahead of the May 2022 elections. In addition, bilingual online resources about the democratic process have been created for the use by teachers and young people.
 

When we arrange for visitors to attend meetings, measures are in place to ensure that these visitors receive a Welsh language service, if they wish. Simultaneous translation is available for stakeholders who wish to contribute through the medium of Welsh at virtual meetings when the terms of reference of the meeting state that it will be conducted in Welsh and English. We also provide simultaneous translation at events where stakeholders are invited, e.g. an event for candidates and agents or non-party campaigners.

All of our messages / tweets relating to or affecting Wales are published bilingually on our social media accounts. There is one bilingual Twitter account (@ElectoralWales) which is managed by staff at the Electoral Commission in Wales. Information specifically intended for Wales is produced and shared by this account. Tweets are created bilingually, either within a single tweet, or through a separate tweet that is shared at the same time.

If anyone contacts us in Welsh through our social media, there are measures in place to ensure that they receive a reply in Welsh, and that this does not delay a reply.    

All our guidance and other content relevant to Wales is produced bilingually, and the Welsh and English versions are published at the same time so that there is no gap in Welsh language provision. Where there are updates, the Welsh versions will be updated at the same time as the English versions. Where Welsh language provision is available, it is proactively promoted, and the option for Welsh language content is clearly shown on equivalent English language content.

We have a policy on the use of Welsh internally at the Electoral Commission in Wales. This document states that measures are in place to ensure that any member of staff working in the Electoral Commission's Wales Office is able to receive in-house services through the medium of Welsh, if they so wish.

This document is available to all our staff via our intranet. Relevant policies relating to the use of Welsh are available in the HR sections of our intranet.

All our human resources policies have been translated and are all available bilingually.

Information relating to any grants or tenders in Wales is published and promoted bilingually, and can be made available in Welsh, if desired.

It was brough to our attention during the this financial year (2023-2024) that we need a Policy on Awarding Grants which we are currently in the process of creating.

Electoral Commission events in Wales are advertised and promoted in Welsh and English, and Welsh language provision is available. In addition, information relating to these events, such as leaflets, signs, etc., are bilingual.

Policy making standards are included in our document 'Equality Impact Assessments'. This document is available to all staff via our intranet. The impact of any new policy on the Welsh language will be measured through the Equality Impact Assessment procedure.

During the financial year 2023-24 we have created two new temporary roles, (Welsh Translator and Welsh Digital Support Officer), with Welsh Language Skills not only noted as essential in the job description but a vital part of the role. These roles were created to increase our Welsh language capacity for publishing documents and resources and to ensure Welsh Language Standards requirements are met. Both roles are for a six months period and we will asses the success of the additional resource at the end of this period.

We are also in the process of carrying out a review of our current translation process to maximise our resource and distinguish any areas where we need to strengthen staff’s understanding of their responsibilities in relation to the Welsh Language Standards.