§ Rev. Martin SmythTo ask the Parliamentary Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs what work is being under taken by the British Irish Council in the field of languages; what the objectives of this work are; which Government Departments are involved; what contribution non-governmental organisations in the minority languages sector are making to this work; and how the work will contribute to the delivery of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. [168010]
§ Mr. LammyThe work of the British-Irish Council (BIC) in the area of Indigenous, Minority and Lesser-Used Languages is subject to agreement between all member administrations and is led by the Welsh Assembly Government.
The BIC at its meeting in Cardiff in November 2003, which was attended by the Prime Minister, agreed that Members should:
Jointly consider outcomes of research into intergenerational language transmission;Carry out an assessment of structures supporting indigenous language learning in adult education in each of the BIC administrations;Work together to identify priorities for their respective indigenous languages in relation to Information and Communication Technology development;Consider together the potential benefits of co-operating on the development of language use surveys;Share information on their experiences of the relationship between planning policy and linguistic considerations.The language covered by the BIC in its work in this field to date include:
- Cymraeg/the Welsh language
- Gaelic in Scotland
- Gaelg/the Manx language
- An Ghaeilge/the Irish language
- Guernesiais/Guernsey-French
- Jerriais/the Jersey language
- Ulster Scots
The members of i he Council are the British and Irish Governments; the devolved administrations of Northern Ireland, Scotland and Wales; the Bailiwicks of Jersey and Guernsey and the Isle of Man. (Since the suspension of the Northern Ireland Assembly, Northern Ireland interest within the British-Irish Council have been represented by Northern Ireland Office Ministers as part of the UK delegation).
Each of the BIC member administrations is responsible for determining the nature of the involvement of its own administration.
The Welsh Assembly Government lead the work in the languages sector and it is open to any member administration to suggest a contribution from a non-governmental organisation. Work in this field will 1249W include input from various language boards, adult education providers and community-based language groups such as the Welsh Mentrau Iaith.
Delivery of the European Charter on Regional and Minority Languages is a matter for each of the Charter's ratified signatories including the UK Government. The work of the BIC in this area will complement current UK initiatives in respect of the Charter.