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Working in the Welsh language

Since we have responsibilities for the environment across England and Wales, we have to be able to provide our services in Welsh as well as English. Find out about our Welsh language scheme.

Wales has often been defined by its language, 'Cymraeg'. Welsh is an ancient Celtic language, related most closely to Breton and Cornish. It is descended from the language that was spoken across most of Britain in Roman times. Like most languages it has many borrowed words, but grammatically it is more different from English than, for example, French or German are.

While not everyone in Wales speaks Welsh, according to the 1991 census almost a fifth are fluent speakers. There are parts of the country where the language is dominant, and there are many people who communicate more comfortably in Welsh than English. There is widespread support for the language, even among those who do not speak it.

In 1993 the Welsh Language Act was passed, requiring public bodies in Wales to provide an equal service in both languages. They were to draw up a Welsh Language Scheme, describing how they would achieve this. A statutory body, the Welsh Language Board, was set up to promote the use of Welsh, to approve these schemes and monitor compliance.

Our Welsh Language Scheme

Our Welsh Language Scheme was updated and approved in June 2007.  It sets out in detail how we meet our legal obligations and provide a proper service to the Welsh speaking community.