§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Attorney-General if the Crown Prosecution Service is subject to the requirements of the Welsh Language Act 1993 in the preparation of official reports and other publications. [3167]
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe provisions of the Welsh Language Act 1993 do not apply to servants or agents of the Crown. They do not, therefore, apply to the Crown Prosecution Service. If a Crown servant or agent chooses voluntarily to adopt a Welsh language scheme, certain provisions of the Act concerning the preparation of a scheme and the investigation of alleged failure to comply with it do apply. The CPS is currently considering the preparation of a detailed formal scheme in accordance with the Welsh Language Board's guidance.
§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Attorney-General what was the cost of producing the bilingual 1996 annual report of the Mid-Glamorgan CPS. [3169]
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe production cost of the bilingual Branch annual report for the Crown Prosecution Service Mid-Glamorgan was approximately £1,145.
§ Mrs. ClwydTo ask the Attorney-General if CPS branches in Wales have(a) sought and (b) been given professional advice by the Welsh Language Board about the grammatical accuracy of their official reports and other publications. [3168]
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe hon. Member may be referring to the report of the Mid-Glamorgan branch of the Crown Prosecution Service. For this report a professional translator was used. Unfortunately on return of final proofs from the printers grammatical errors in the Welsh language version went uncorrected. However steps will be taken in future to seek to avoid any such re-occurrence.