Agenda and minutes

·        Introduction and apologies

·        Declarations of interest

There were no declarations of interest.

The Communities, Equalities and Local Government Committee laid the report on its Stage 1 consideration of the general principles of National Assembly for Wales (Official Languages) Bill and Bilingual Services Scheme before the Assembly on 4 May.

Commissioners considered the implications of the recommendations for the Bill and Scheme and agreed the approach to be taken by the Commissioner in charge in his contribution to the Stage 1 debate on 16 May.

In considering how it should respond, the Commission took account of:

·         Its ambition to be recognised as an exemplar bilingual parliamentary body and its commitment to enhancing its bilingual provision;

·         The need for flexibility to allow services to be developed and enhanced over time;

·         The cost implications of any new obligations included in the Communities Equalities and Local Government Committee report recommendations, and the impact on its priorities for enhancing bilingual provision in different  ways;

·         The pre-legislative consultation undertaken in 2011;

·         The need to ensure that staff are fully aware of the implications of both the Bill and Scheme on service delivery.

·         The need to ensure that legislation intended to achieve equality of treatment of the official languages in the work of the Commission does not unintentionally constrain its ability to make changes to the way in which services are delivered.

Commissioners discussed recent media coverage of the Assembly.