Welsh Language Board
Encyclopedia
The Welsh Language Board is a statutory body set up by the UK Government as part of the Welsh Language Act 1993
Welsh Language Act 1993
The Welsh Language Act 1993 , is an Act of the Parliament of the United Kingdom, which put the Welsh language on an equal footing with the English language in Wales with regard to the public sector....

. It is now an Assembly Sponsored Public Body. It began its life under John Walter Jones
John Walter Jones (Wales)
John Walter Jones was the first Chief Executive of the Welsh Language Board, a post which he held between 1993 and 2004.John Walter Jones was born in Moelfre, Anglesey and educated in Bangor and the University of Wales Institute Cardiff...

 OBE and its current Chief Executive is Meirion Prys Jones, with Meri Huws acting as Chair.

It receives an annual government grant of £13m which is to be used to "promote and facilitate" the use of the Welsh language
Welsh language
Welsh is a member of the Brythonic branch of the Celtic languages spoken natively in Wales, by some along the Welsh border in England, and in Y Wladfa...

.

The Board is responsible for administering the Welsh Language Act and for seeing that public bodies in Wales
Wales
Wales is a country that is part of the United Kingdom and the island of Great Britain, bordered by England to its east and the Atlantic Ocean and Irish Sea to its west. It has a population of three million, and a total area of 20,779 km²...

 keep to its terms. Over 500 Welsh language schemes have now been agreed with a range of bodies named under the provisions of the Welsh Language Act.

In cases where there are concerns that public bodies do not comply with their Welsh language schemes, the Board can hold a statutory investigation. If the Board's investigations indicate that an organisation has broken its own Welsh language scheme, it can produce recommendations to the organisation and, ultimately, transfer the matter to the Minister for Heritage at the Welsh Assembly Government.

The Board's Private Sector and Business team work with a wealth of large and small companies. Since launching the private sector Welsh language policy in November 2008, over a 100 businesses have already produced a policy, and 150 companies have signed up to the Board's 'Investing in Welsh' scheme, indicating support of the language.

The Welsh Language Board has been at the forefront of promoting bilingual design. They have supported this goal by holding the annual Welsh Language Board bilingual awards. In 2006 winners included, FBA, Glass Hammer, Synergy Creative Design & Marketing, Hoffi, 6721, Elfen, Zodshop and Departures.

In the winter of 2004 Rhodri Morgan
Rhodri Morgan
Hywel Rhodri Morgan is a Welsh Labour politician who, as First Secretary for Wales, and subsequently First Minister, was leader of the Welsh Assembly Government from 2000 to 2009. A former leader of Welsh Labour, he was the Assembly Member for Cardiff West from 1999 to 2011...

 previous First Minister of Wales announced his decision to abolish the Welsh Language Board. This decision evoked a mixed reaction throughout Wales; welcomed by Cymdeithas yr Iaith Gymraeg but met with scepticism by others. It is to be abolished under part nine, section 143 (1) of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.

See also

  • List of language regulators
  • Languages in the United Kingdom
    Languages in the United Kingdom
    The de facto official language of the United Kingdom is English, which is spoken as the primary language of 95% of the UK population. Welsh is the second most spoken language in the United Kingdom.-Living:...

  • Language policy
    Language policy
    Many countries have a language policy designed to favour or discourage the use of a particular language or set of languages. Although nations historically have used language policies most often to promote one official language at the expense of others, many countries now have policies designed to...

  • Regional language
    Regional language
    A regional language is a language spoken in an area of a nation state, whether it be a small area, a federal state or province, or some wider area....

  • Language revitalization
  • Foras na Gaeilge
    Foras na Gaeilge
    Foras na Gaeilge is the governing body of the Irish language, responsible for the promotion of the language throughout the island of Ireland. Its name can be translated into English as "The Irish Language Body", although the body has no official English-language name...

     - Irish language
    Irish language
    Irish , also known as Irish Gaelic, is a Goidelic language of the Indo-European language family, originating in Ireland and historically spoken by the Irish people. Irish is now spoken as a first language by a minority of Irish people, as well as being a second language of a larger proportion of...

     governing body
  • Bòrd na Gàidhlig
    Bòrd na Gàidhlig
    Bòrd na Gàidhlig is a quango appointed by the Scottish Government with responsibility for Scottish Gaelic...

     - Scottish Gaelic governing body
  • Cornish Language Partnership
    Cornish Language Partnership
    The Cornish Language Partnership is a representative body that was set up in Cornwall, United Kingdom in 2005 to promote and develop the use of the Cornish language in Cornwall...

  • Welsh people
    Welsh people
    The Welsh people are an ethnic group and nation associated with Wales and the Welsh language.John Davies argues that the origin of the "Welsh nation" can be traced to the late 4th and early 5th centuries, following the Roman departure from Britain, although Brythonic Celtic languages seem to have...

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