{
  "url": "https://openlegislation.uk/welsh-language-standards-no-9-regulations-2023/note",
  "json_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/welsh-language-standards-no-9-regulations-2023/note.json",
  "legislation": "wsi/2023/1041",
  "legislation_title": "The Welsh Language Standards (No. 9) Regulations 2023",
  "legislation_url": "https://openlegislation.uk/welsh-language-standards-no-9-regulations-2023",
  "path": "note",
  "kind": "note",
  "number": null,
  "heading": "Explanatory note",
  "text": "(This note is not part of the Regulations)\nThe Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 (nawm 1) (“the 2011 Measure”) makes provision for the specification of standards of conduct in relation to the Welsh language (“standards”). These replace the system of Welsh language schemes provided for by the Welsh Language Act 1993 (c. 38).\nSection 26 of the 2011 Measure enables the Welsh Ministers to specify standards, and section 39 enables them to provide that a standard is specifically applicable to a person by authorising the Welsh Language Commissioner (“the Commissioner”) to give a notice to that person requiring compliance with the standard (a “compliance notice”).\nThese Regulations specify standards in relation to the conduct of water and sewerage undertakers set out in Schedule 4 to the Regulations (which are referred to in the Regulations as “bodies”). Water and sewerage undertakers are appointed under section 6 or by a variation of an appointment under section 7 of the Water Industry Act 1991 (c. 56).\nThe Regulations also authorise the Commissioner to give a compliance notice to those bodies, in relation to standards specified by the Regulations. This is referred to in the 2011 Measure as making a standard “specifically applicable” to a body.\nBecause the bodies which these standards relate to are within Schedule 8 to the 2011 Measure, section 37 of the 2011 Measure provides that only service delivery standards and record keeping standards can be made specifically applicable to them. A service delivery standard only applies to the extent that it relates to the provision by the body of a service specified in column 2 of the body’s entry in Schedule 8 to the 2011 Measure. In the case of the water and sewerage undertakers falling within Schedule 4 to these Regulations, the specified services are services provided to the public in the exercise of the functions of water undertaker or sewerage undertaker (as appropriate) for the whole or any part of Wales.\nIn accordance with section 44 of the 2011 Measure, the Commissioner may (by way of a compliance notice) require a body to comply with one or more standards that are specifically applicable to it. To reflect that, the standards specified by the Regulations are expressed in the second person narrative, meaning that they are in “you must” form (where “you” means the relevant body in each case).\nUsing the flexibility provided by section 44 of the 2011 Measure, the Commissioner may (if it is reasonable and proportionate, and the Commissioner wishes to do so) require a body to comply with one standard in some circumstances and another standard in other circumstances. For example, if a standard is specifically applicable to a body, the Commissioner may require the body to comply with the standard in some circumstances but not others, or require it to comply with the standard only in some areas. Similarly, if two or more standards relate to a specific conduct (for example, standards 8 and 9 in relation to answering telephone calls), the Commissioner may (by way of a compliance notice) require a body to comply with one of those standards only, or with different standards at different times, in different circumstances, or in different areas, as is appropriate for the body. The Commissioner is not, therefore, obliged to require every body to comply with every standard.\nIn accordance with section 46 of the 2011 Measure, the compliance notice given to a body must state the imposition day, or imposition days; meaning the day or days upon which the body becomes required to comply with a standard (or comply with a standard in a specific way). Using the flexibility provided for by section 46, the Commissioner may set an early imposition day for a body to comply with a standard (provided this is at least 6 months after the date on which the body was given the related compliance notice), or set an imposition day further in the future (for example, in relation to more challenging standards).\nWhere a standard specified in these Regulations requires written material to be displayed or provided in Welsh, or for a service to be provided in Welsh, this does not mean that the material must be displayed or provided in Welsh only, or that the service must only be provided in Welsh (unless that is specifically stated).\nSchedule 1 to the Regulations specifies service delivery standards. Section 28 of the 2011 Measure provides that a “service delivery standard” means a standard that relates to a service delivery activity, and is intended to promote or facilitate the use of the Welsh language, or to work towards ensuring that the Welsh language is treated no less favourably than the English language, when that activity is carried out. A “service delivery activity” means a person delivering services to another person, or dealing with any other person in connection with delivering services to that other person, or to a third person.\nSchedule 2 to the Regulations specifies record keeping standards. Section 32 of the 2011 Measure provides that a “record keeping standard” is a standard relating to the keeping of records about other specified standards, records about complaints concerning compliance with other specified standards, or records about other complaints concerning the Welsh language.\nSchedule 3 to the Regulations specifies standards that deal with supplementary matters. These are specific forms of service delivery standards and record keeping standards that deal with the matters referred to in section 27(4) of the 2011 Measure (which are supplementary to the matters dealt with in Schedules 1 and 2).\nThe Welsh Ministers’ Code of Practice on the carrying out of Regulatory Impact Assessments was considered in relation to these Regulations. As a result, a regulatory impact assessment has been prepared as to the likely costs and benefits of complying with these Regulations. A copy can be obtained from the Welsh Language Unit, Welsh Government, Cathays Park, Cardiff, CF10 3NQ or by email at Cymraeg2050@llyw.cymru.",
  "extent": null,
  "status": null,
  "version": "current",
  "annotations": [],
  "outstanding_effects": [],
  "provenance": {
    "source": "legislation.gov.uk",
    "source_url": "https://www.legislation.gov.uk/wsi/2023/1041/note",
    "retrieved_at": "2026-10-28T23:03:00.381156+00:00"
  },
  "licence": "Open Government Licence v3.0",
  "licence_url": "https://www.nationalarchives.gov.uk/doc/open-government-licence/version/3/",
  "attribution": "Contains public sector information licensed under the Open Government Licence v3.0. Source: legislation.gov.uk, The National Archives."
}