Thank you very much, Llywydd. It gives me great pleasure to introduce this annual report on the Assembly Commission's official languages scheme. It's wonderful to have an opportunity to share an update on our work over the past year. Now, the report celebrates successes, but also notes those occasions when we have not always succeeded in meeting the high standards set by the scheme.

I would like to begin with the themes that provide the structure for our work for the fifth Assembly. Last year saw a great deal of debate on our ambitious plans to transform the recruitment system in order to improve the process of defining and setting language skills levels for posts, introducing a requirement for basic language skills for every post advertised. The revised system has now been in place for a year, and the report includes details on the number of posts advertised at different levels, and in annual reports from this point on we will be able to compare those figures.

Now, with regard to the language skills theme, the language skills team has continued to provide bespoke training to Assembly Members and their support staff as well as Assembly Commission staff. Over 150 learners are now receiving training from the team. This year, thanks to the dedication of our learners and the team's innovative training methods, 11 learners have sat WJEC exams on the access, foundation and intermediate levels, with many more climbing the skills ladder but choosing not to sit an exam.

On the whole, the official languages team's work this year has focused on linguistic planning, which is the third theme, following the implementation of the new recruitment system. Heads of service and official languages co-ordinators are currently amending the language schemes of their respective services, noting the language skills requirements of each post. And, in tandem with this work, we're in the process of recording the language skills of all members of staff. This work is being done by each service in turn on a self-assessment basis, and the language skills team will be providing support to individuals and teams as necessary. All of this will provide certainty for the chief executive, and for me as commissioner with responsibility for official languages, that we are planning the organisation’s bilingual capacity appropriately to provide excellent bilingual services at all times.

Now, the Assembly’s proceedings are the fourth theme. Our work has focused on supporting Assembly Members to work and participate in proceedings in their chosen language. This year, the survey of Assembly Members and their staff yielded particularly good results in terms of their ability to work in their chosen language. However, we must not rest on our laurels, and nor will we do so. We will continue to listen to feedback from Members and their support staff to ensure that we maintain these high standards.

Unfortunately, there was no improvement in the number of monolingual documents laid in the Table Office, which means that it's difficult for Members to prepare for proceedings in their chosen language. However, we continue to work with the Welsh Government to seek opportunities to improve their provision. We welcome the commitment made by Shan Morgan, the Permanent Secretary, last week, during the Culture, Welsh Language and Communications Committee’s scrutiny session, to increase the number of documents laid bilingually, and it would be good to be able to report on progress on this matter in next year’s report.

The fifth theme is the most wide-ranging with regard to targets, and, even though they are reasonably simple in nature, taken together they will make a major difference to the culture and ethos of our organisation. These are the targets that will enable us to make the changes required to ensure that we achieve our ambition of being recognised as an innovative and proactive organisation in the provision of bilingual services.

In terms of the service standards, you will remember that we included a number of statistics on elements of the services that we provide last year, and this year we have added to those tables to allow comparisons to be made between years. During last year’s debate, Members requested details about the number and nature of the complaints received. It's heartening to note that only a small number of complaints were received and that we successfully resolved the majority informally without the need for a formal inquiry. However, I would like to assure you that we will use any feedback to learn and to improve our services. Positive feedback is also important, and the report includes a number of quotes from individuals, which will, again, assist us to learn lessons and to share good practice across the organisation. I look forward to hearing your response to the report.