Welsh Language

Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform written question – answered at on 15 September 2008.

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Photo of Stephen Crabb Stephen Crabb Conservative, Preseli Pembrokeshire

To ask the Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform what recent assessment he has made of the level of demand for the services provided by (a) his Department and (b) its agencies and non-departmental bodies to be provided in the Welsh language; and if he will make a statement.

Photo of Gareth Thomas Gareth Thomas Parliamentary Under-Secretary(Department for International Development) (Trade Policy) (also Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform), Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform) (Trade and Consumer Affairs) (also Department for International Development), Party Chair, Co-operative Party

The Department has made no recent assessment of the level of demand for the services it provides in Welsh. I have contacted Companies House and the Insolvency Service, and asked their chief executives to respond directly to the hon. Member. However, their records indicate that, to date, none have been asked to provide any of their documents in the Welsh language.

Letter from Stephen Speed, dated 21 July 2008

The Secretary of State for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform, has asked me to reply to your question (2007/2933) on what recent assessment has been made of the level of demand for the services provided by his Department and its agencies and non-departmental bodies to be provided in the Welsh language.

The Insolvency Service is an executive agency of the Department for Business, Enterprise and Regulatory Reform. The Service has not made any recent assessment of the level of demand for services provided in the Welsh language, but requests for services in the Welsh language are dealt with on a case by case basis and The Service will continue to provide information and adapt its services in Welsh as and when required.

Letter from Gareth Jones, dated 21 July 2008:

I am responding on behalf of Companies House to your recently tabled Parliamentary Question to the Secretary of State for Business Enterprise and Regulatory Reform.

Companies House has not made recent assessments of the need for these services because we already have a good idea of the demand. This is because we provide a service which allows officers of all companies that are registered in Wales to receive all communications in bilingual form. At present some 400 companies have taken up this option. The Companies legislation under which we operate allows certain filings to be bilingual and details of these are attached as an annex. Under the provisions of the new Companies Act 2006, we plan to increase the number of documents that Welsh companies can file in the Welsh language, without them having to provide certified translations into English.

We provide electronic services to all our customers, including our Welsh speaking customers. Our latest development is a bilingual web-filing service for the annual return that provides online filing capabilities equivalent to services offered to companies filing in English. Bilingual webfiling also allows customers to file other document types. This delivered significant benefits to Welsh speaking customers in terms of cheaper, quicker, simpler and more secure filing. In addition all guidance material is provided bilingually and we operate a Welsh language version of the Companies House website. We have an established network of Welsh speakers across the organisation and provide dedicated telephone numbers for customers to communicate directly them.

I hope this information is helpful. I would be happy answer any further queries.

Annex Companies House provision of Welsh filing services

Required by law:

1. Currently companies can file bilingual forms in order to:

Incorporate a company

Declare that a company is exempt from the requirement to use "Limited" or "Cyfyngedig"

File a return of allotment of shares

Change an accounting reference date

Change the situation or address of the registered office

Appoint a director or secretary

Change the particulars of a director or secretary

Terminate a director or secretary appointment

File the company's annual return

Apply for strike-off

Withdraw a strike-off application

2. Existing legislation allows the filing of various forms relating to Welsh companies in Welsh (with the registrar then obtaining an English translation for the public record):

Memorandum and articles of association

Annual accounts and reports (private companies only)

Auditors report (private company only)

From 1st October 2009 as part of the Companies Act 2006, Welsh companies will be able to file additional documents in Welsh only (without the need for a certified translation into English), these include:

Special resolutions to:

re-register reduce the company's share capital change the company's name change the location of the company's registered office alter the company's articles on conversion to a community interest company amend a resolution or agreement by reason of an enactment or court order

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