5. Will the Minister provide an update on discussions the Welsh Government has had regarding ensuring that school governors have the right to complete online DBS checks through the medium of Welsh in line with his predecessor's pledge on 17 March 2021? OQ56604

We've had discussions with the Welsh Language Commissioner.  I understand that the checking processes of the Disclosure and Barring Service are not available to be completed online in Welsh for school governors and other postholders. That, of course, can cause delays in filling posts. I have already sent a letter to the service to ask them to improve the Welsh language service.

Well, thank you for writing to them. I'm sure that the process won't finish there if you need to go further, and I hope—and maybe you'll confirm that in your response. But there is an example here of where Welsh is losing the digital battle. If you want to complete your DBS through the medium of English, you can do it online; if you want to do it through the medium of Welsh, you have to go back to the dark ages and do it on paper, and I don't think that that's acceptable. I'm going to refuse to do that as a governor, and if that means that I am exempted from being a governor, I will consider that that is happening as a result of linguistic discrimination. And I'm not the only governor in that situation. So, I would appeal to you, Minister, that if we are serious about ensuring that the Welsh language is accessible to all in all contexts, particularly in the digital context, then this is one thing that has to change. 

Well, I agree with the fact that it is entirely unacceptable that people should suffer because they choose to do something that they should be able to do easily—that is, respond in Welsh. And you're right to talk about the specific impact online. Of course, there is an opportunity to do it on paper, but, as you mentioned, the dark ages—that's not sufficient now. Many weeks of delay come from that. There is a practical opportunity for the body, given that they are about to renew IT plans, and so, in terms of the practical element, we're trying to push that idea—that they use that opportunity in practice to be able to provide the service in Welsh, which is certainly needed.