I will now move on to the official languages scheme for the sixth Senedd. Those who are familiar with the official languages scheme for the fifth Senedd will immediately see that we have made a relatively significant change to the format of the scheme for the sixth Senedd. This is in response to comments made by Members and staff regarding the length of the document, possibly, and from time to time what was seen perhaps as the vague nature of some elements of the service standards. In drafting the scheme for the sixth Senedd, therefore, there was a deliberate attempt made to shorten the narrative and to draw up more specific service standards and to make them as clear as possible. It is our hope that this will create a document that is more relevant and easier to use for all our stakeholders.

We have also combined the language skills strategy, which was previously a separate document, with the scheme itself. In discussions with stakeholders and users over the period of the fifth Senedd, there was a feeling that the strategy was an integral part of the official languages scheme and that it would therefore be more sensible to combine the two documents into one. We'll see whether you agree with that. This will not only ensure, I think, that we bear the requirements of the strategy in mind when developing and providing bilingual services in the future, but it will also make it easier for Members to hold us to account on the content during these annual debates, and that's very important, of course.

In accordance with the requirements of the Act, the scheme for the sixth Senedd also identifies those areas of work that the Senedd Commission will focus on over the period of the sixth Senedd, and will do so in the form of themes. These themes include objectives that will inform our work and that will ensure that we continue to provide a first-class bilingual service. We are trying to improve and strengthen services all the time. For example, we will review the recruitment systems in terms of language skills requirements that were implemented in the fifth Senedd. In truth, our feeling is that refining and maintaining our standards is the main purpose of the themes, so as to ensure that we maintain our reputation as a truly bilingual organisation that is leading the way in this field. We are always looking, of course, for opportunities to learn from others, but we are very eager to share our experiences and expertise, too.

Having now familiarised ourselves with the new normal following the pandemic, we will also, as I mentioned earlier, introduce a theme that will identify how we will learn from our experiences during the pandemic, specifically in terms of the use of our official languages during proceedings, but also more generally in terms of the challenges and opportunities that have arisen in terms of providing bilingual services.

As you know, before a new official languages scheme can be introduced, the Senedd Commission is required to consult on the content and consider any comments received. That consultation was undertaken in many forms, including face-to-face and online discussions, the submission of comments in electronic form, and formal consultation on our website, and I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone who helped us through that process to draw up the scheme in its current form. Every comment was valuable and useful. I would like to give special thanks to the Members and their support staff for their time and comments, and also to the culture committee for taking the time to consider a draft of the scheme. We also received comments from external organisations, and had input from the trade union side and from staff at the Senedd Commission. And of course I’m extremely grateful to the team that pulled it all together.

In closing for the time being, I would like to echo what I said in the preface to the new scheme, namely that we as a Senedd serve a diverse nation, a nation that comprises a full range of linguistic ability, a nation that is multicultural. The people of Wales expect us to set the highest possible standards across all of our services, and let me say this: the Welsh Parliament is an institution for all, and the Welsh language is a language for all, and this scheme, I'm confident, sets a framework for providing bilingual services that support everyone, that encourage them to express their identity, and to make use of their language skills regardless of the level of those skills. I'm looking forward to the contributions. Thank you very much.