2. Will the Minister make a statement on the preparedness of large private sector organisations, such as banks, to accept correspondence in Welsh? OAQ53697

Thank you very much, Mike, and thank you for posing the question in Welsh. I’m pleased to see that you will be one of the million by 2050. The Welsh Language Commissioner works with the banking sector to encourage them to treat Welsh and English on the basis of equality, and recently I wrote to the commissioner offering my officials' support and assistance in developing appropriate technology to assist them in providing Welsh language services, and this, of course, would include correspondence.

Thank you for your response.

The difficulty my daughter had in getting Lloyds Bank to accept the form in Welsh is well-documented. What discussion has the Minister had, or intends to have, with banks, building societies and insurance companies regarding accepting correspondence in Welsh, because otherwise we're going to have a two-tier system, where the public sector responds in Welsh and the private sector doesn't?

Well, I have had a meeting with the banks and the language commissioner, and, of course, this is the commissioner’s responsibility. But I do recognise, and I do think it’s important that we should all recognise, that correspondence is a key part of the service provided by banks. The commissioner has recently presented a seminar in London, because, very often, that’s where decisions are made, and I think that’s the way to put pressure on them and, of course, to understand that things are changing in the way that people use the banks. We need to ensure that people use technology and that that technology is available through the medium of Welsh. It’s interesting how Santander, for example, has developed software, where, once you use the Welsh language once, it remembers that you are a Welsh speaker, and I think we should be encouraging others to do likewise.

It makes very good business sense, of course, for any organisation to be able to interact with their customers in the language of their choice, and that obviously includes Welsh, especially given that we want to see the Welsh language promoted. Now, many businesses, both large and small, will have members of staff within their teams who are Welsh speaking, but who very infrequently use their Welsh-language skills on a day-to-day basis. What work is the Welsh Government doing to encourage the use of those skills more widely within businesses of all sizes across Wales in order that the opportunity to use Welsh with customers is something that is not hidden, if you like, in terms of these latent skills, but is there for all to see, so that customers can be encouraged to communicate through the medium of Welsh?

Well, of course, you will be aware that the Government has announced that 12 business officials across Wales are now going around small businesses, providing them with ideas on how they can use the Welsh language in the workplace. And also, of course, there is the Cymraeg Gwaith scheme, which is run by the National Centre for Learning Welsh. Thousands and thousands of people have already used the opportunity to learn Welsh in the workplace, and, of course, we are providing a very significant contribution for them to use the Welsh language. A lot of this is about increasing people’s confidence to use the Welsh language in the workplace. A lot of work is being done within the Government already, but what is good now is that that is now going out to the private sector as well.

Minister, thankfully, apart from a few training issues, large private sector organisations such as banks and utility companies already accept correspondence in both Wales's official languages. Do you agree with me that, if we are to encourage more private sector organisations to follow suit, we have to incentivise rather than penalise? Minister, what consideration has the Welsh Government given to offering Welsh-language tuition to such organisations and perhaps reductions in business rates to those organisations that encourage staff to develop their Welsh language skills?

Diolch yn fawr. I think you're absolutely right, there are—. It's really important that we use the carrot and the stick where possible. I am more in favour of the carrot, generally, than the stick, and that's why we have really contributed millions to an initiative to encourage people to take up learning the language in the workplace. But the other side of this, of course, is that Welsh speakers—if these private sector companies are providing that service through the medium of Welsh, then it's incumbent on us, as Welsh speakers—

—as Welsh speakers to ensure that we make use of those services. And that’s the problem at the moment. Very often, the services are available but very few Welsh speakers make use of them. We have to ensure that we, as Welsh speakers, do make use of those services when they are available and when that opportunity arises.