§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Defence what is his policy for responding to letters received in the(a) Scottish Gaelic, (b) Welsh, (c) Urdu, (d) Hindi and (e) Chinese language. [28049]
§ Mr. Spellar[holding answer 10 February 1998]The MOD complies with the Welsh Language Act 1993 which established the principle of equality between the English and Welsh languages in all public business. Letters written in Welsh therefore receive a signed reply in Welsh. Under our current policy letters written in Scottish Gaelic, Urdu, Hindi and Chinese receive a signed reply in English only.