Will the Commission explain how its practice of not publishing a full transcript of committee proceedings in Welsh, as is done in English, complies with section 35(1)(c) of the Government of Wales Act 2006?
Adam Price MS on behalf of the Senedd Commission
Section 35(1)(c) does not place a duty on the Senedd to publish bilingual transcripts of committee meetings.
Section 35(1)(c) states as follows:
“(1C) Reports of Senedd proceedings must, in the case of proceedings which fall within section 1(5)(a) (proceedings of the Senedd), contain a record of what was said, in the official language in which it was said, and also a full translation into the other official language.”
Section 35(1)(c) only requires a full translation of proceedings that fall into the definition of section 1(5)(a).
Section 1(5) of GOWA states:
“(5) In this Act “Senedd proceedings” means any proceedings of—
(a) the Senedd,
(b) committees of the Senedd, or
(c) sub-committees of such committees.”
Section 1(5)(a) relates only to proceedings of the Senedd i.e. plenary. It does not include proceedings of committees or sub-committees as these are clearly defined in section 1(5)(b) and (c) of GOWA respectively. There is therefore no legal duty on the Senedd under section 35(1)(c) to publish full transcripts of committee proceedings in English and Welsh.
In accordance with section 35(1)(c) of the Government of Wales Act 2006, a Record of Plenary proceedings, including a Welsh translation of contributions made in English, is published within 3 working days.
The Commission has agreed to consider reviewing the legal framework relating to official languages in preparation for the seventh Senedd.