Thank you very much, and I, I’m sure on behalf of everyone in this Chamber, congratulate Hannah on the progress that she’s made with the Welsh language in a very short period of time. So, huge congratulations to you.

I'd like to congratulate the Commissioner for putting a clear focus and emphasis on the Welsh language at the beginning of the report. But I do have some concerns about how the Welsh language is being promoted and used in this institution. The report mentions cases where it was not possible for individuals to use their language of choice, where correspondence was not sent bilingually. I would venture that the report is referring to the Welsh language in that sense, and not the English language. But 'language of choice' is the term used, and that's different to all comparable institutions and other democratic bodies in Wales. This Senedd operates under a legal framework that places an emphasis on promoting the language of choice, rather than promoting the Welsh language. But everything that we know about linguistic planning in Wales, and indeed Wales’s national language policy, emphasises the promotion of the Welsh language.

Unfortunately, the current framework, which leads to the promotion of the language of choice rather than the Welsh language, is undermining those efforts and is a very odd thing to be doing, in truth. So, I would like to get your response to that. Is it time for us to start thinking about changing that, and that the Senedd joins the same policy and legal framework as every other public body? That is in order to see the Welsh language growing in this institution. Because we have seen a reduction. Heledd Fychan has mentioned the reduction in the number of written questions submitted in Welsh, which has fallen from 4 per cent to 3 per cent, and then to 1 per cent this year. Oral and topical questions also show the same pattern, and there has been a further decline in the use of Welsh in Plenary meetings.

Some specific points arising from the report: we would question whether the figure of 34 documents prepared internally by committees in English only is correct. I think it would be much higher, because draft reports by committees, which are numerous, are usually still prepared in English only, and are then translated at the final stage, namely just before publication. 

In terms of the standards commissioner, I can say from experience that I and staff members whom I know about have had to engage with the commissioner verbally in English. Under the current legal framework, I don't think that there is a right to use the Welsh language. We need to look at the capacity of the office of the standards commissioner to be able to work in Welsh without having to rely on translation, and whether it might be necessary to add to that capacity. Discussing sensitive issues is so much more effective if you do so in your mother tongue directly with a staff member rather than through a translator. 

Finally, we also need to look at the intranet. I know that there is a problem with the staff and Members' directory in terms of the quality and accuracy of that information. I'd like the Commission to ensure that that information about the language skills of Members and their staff is correct and is reviewed regularly. Thank you.