The Regulator for Charities in England and Wales
The Charity Commission has adopted the principle that in the conduct of public business in Wales it will treat the English and Welsh languages on a basis of equality. This scheme sets out how the Commission will give effect to that principle when providing services to the public in Wales.
The Commissioners fully endorse this scheme, which sets out the plans for implementing this principle in the short, medium and long-term. These build on a solid base of achievement so far in our customer service to charities in Wales.
This scheme sets out how the Charity Commission will give effect to the principle of treating English and Welsh on an equal basis when providing services to the public in Wales. Furthermore we undertake to co-operate closely with the National Assembly for Wales on Welsh Language Act matters. Both parties have agreed a concordat setting out how we will work together in future.
The Charity Commission in its present role as a non-ministerial Government Department is constituted under the Charities Act 1993 as the organisation responsible for the statutory regulation of charities in England and Wales. The Commission currently employs approximately 570 staff in 4 offices based in London, Liverpool, Taunton and Newport.
The Commission set up a permanent office in Wales in April 2004, with 9 permanent staff. This team works closely with the other 3 offices in regulating the 11,000 registered charities in Wales. The Welsh Office is situated at Clarence House, Clarence Place, Newport NP19 7AA. 9 staff are located at the Newport office.
The exceptions to this are for National Health Service charities in both England and Wales, all casework for which is dealt with by a specialist unit in Liverpool. Also the Reception Centre, the initial contact point for most incoming telephone calls, will continue to be based in Liverpool, as will the Annual Return Mailing and Monitoring functions.
In the Summer of 2005, as part of our Strategic Review, we published a new vision and mission statement which encapsulates our approach over the next 3 years.
VisionOur new vision moves away from a historical focus on the role of the Commission itself to a vision which focuses on the charity sector as a whole and the critically important contribution that charitable activity makes to society.
MissionOur new mission:
Our new values will underpin everything we do and will shape our behaviour, both as an organisation and as individuals working in the Commission.
The five values are as follows:
Effective
We deliver on our promises and get the basics right. We are focused on the outcome rather than the process. Our work is targeted and efficient and provides value for money. We do things well and are accountable to our stakeholders.
Expert
We have a unique perspective and reservoir of knowledge on the charity sector and charity law. We use this expertise to add value to the work of individual charities and the work of the charity sector as a whole.
Fair
We treat all stakeholders consistently and without bias. Any actions we take are proportionate, fair and reasonable. We behave in an open, honest and transparent way. We take account of, and value, diversity.
Innovative
We are willing to adapt and change and try new ways of doing things. We are imaginative and flexible in the way we respond to the issues we face.
Responsive
We listen to the needs of trustees and their charities. We respond swiftly and in a way which is supportive and enabling. We work in partnership with other organisations and stakeholders, and build effective relationships.
In support of these values, our work with charities falls in four main operational areas, being:
In support of our work we make available a wide range of publications, ranging from a summary of trustee responsibilities to a detailed Registration Pack. Almost all of these publications are available in Welsh (in hard copy and here on our website) and are free of charge.
The Commission's aim is to ensure that, in time, all of our publications are available either bilingually or separately in Welsh and English. We will consider the viability of providing each of our publications, as they become due for renewal, in one bilingual document rather than separately in English and Welsh, and staff and contractors concerned will be provided with written guidance on producing bilingual documents.
The Commission is committed to assessing the linguistic consequences of any new policies and initiatives when formulating them, and that these new policies and initiatives:
In addition, the Commission:
We aim to provide an efficient and effective service for our customers. The same standard applies to the services we provide in English and Welsh in each of our four offices. We have contracted professional translators who are able to translate correspondence (both written and electronic) in a timescale that enables us to respond to customers in Welsh, within the same Service First targets as for all our other customers.
The Commission now has a permanent office in Newport and staff there handle much of the casework for Welsh charities. There are 9 permanent staff there and they carry out, for Welsh charities, the Commissioners' advice and guidance work, maintenance of the Register of Charities, Scheme and Order making, and some Review visit work. The Newport office also has responsibility for maintaining the Welsh language part of our website. The aim is for this office to have at least 2 bilingual staff in place as soon as possible, who will be able to handle demand from customers for services in the Welsh language. However, we appreciate that it may not always be possible to have bilingual staff on hand all the time. Therefore we will continue to have translation and interpretation services available for those occasions when a bilingual member of staff is not available.
As part of the Charities Database, we are able to record which charities have expressed a Welsh language choice. This information will be available to all of our staff to ensure that charities receive all statutory information and forms in Welsh where that preference has been indicated. We will continue to look at enhancements to our computer systems including an access facility to the public database for Welsh speakers.
We aim to provide an efficient and effective service for our customers. The same standards of quality apply to the services we provide in Welsh and English. Our customer targets of:
The same standards and targets apply to our service, regardless of the language used by our customers. Where lengthy or complex correspondence requiring a response needs to be translated we will try our best to meet our customer service targets of:
We will fully consider the needs of Welsh language users in any future legislation on which the Commission might be consulted or which we might promote.
We will continue to welcome correspondence (including e-mails) from the public in Wales in either Welsh or English. Any letter headed paper, compliments slips and so on, used in correspondence with Welsh addressees, will contain a statement that correspondence is welcomed in Welsh and English. Where correspondence received in Welsh requires a reply or acknowledgement it will be sent in Welsh, and where there has been face to face or telephone communication in Welsh, we will correspond in Welsh. Where we know that customers prefer to correspond through Welsh, we will initiate correspondence with them in Welsh.
We will establish with charities and their representatives operating in Wales their preferred language at the very beginning of our relationship with them, through the registration application pack, but if they have not indicated a language preference we will correspond with them in either language as agreed with the charity.
Charities already on the Register have been asked to state their language preference for a number of years, either through the registration application pack, or for those already registered when the pack was introduced, through the annual return questionnaire. This questionnaire also allows charities to change this preference should their requirements change.
Once a language choice has been expressed and recorded on our database by a charity operating in Wales, this will be used by our monitoring and mailing sections. This will ensure that, where a preference has been expressed, all mailings of annual return questionnaires, leaflets etc are in the appropriate language(s). We will not automatically mail all charities operating in Wales with bilingual communications, but rather use the language of their choice as stated initially.
If a charity, or other organisation, or an individual corresponds with us, other than in respect of an application for charitable registration, we will assume their language preference from the language in which they approach us, unless there is some indication to the contrary in what they say.
The Commission has a statutory duty to make the Register of Charities accessible to the public of England and Wales.
We therefore welcome applications for registration in English, Welsh or bilingually. In any event, we aim to complete registration within our published public service targets. To support this, we have produced a Welsh language version of our model governing documents, and we have also agreed standard governing documents in both languages with a number of umbrella bodies, eg Cylch Meithrin.
If no bilingual or English version of the governing document exists, the Commission can arrange for an English translation. We will send the translated version to the applicant and invite them to check it for accuracy and let us know if any changes are needed.
If the application for registration is successful, the Register will include both the Welsh governing document and the English translation. While we will use the English translation for general advice, in the case of any legal proceedings, it will be the Welsh governing document that has primacy.
More detailed guidance on this process will be provided to applicants as part of the registration pack.
Where there are any registered particulars in Welsh (for example contact details, objects and annual income) they are available for public inspection, and may be obtained by contacting our Contact Centre. Members of the public may also make an appointment to examine Welsh documents on our Central Register files.
Now our permanent office is established in Wales, most business associated with Welsh charities will be carried out through it. We are committed to attempting to recruit at least 2 Welsh-speaking staff so that, in most cases, customers who choose to do so can communicate directly by telephone with our staff in Welsh.
All the Commission's staff in the Welsh office will give a bilingual greeting, and all staff will be provided with guidance on dealing with and transferring Welsh language telephone calls to the appropriate officers (eg issuing an internal directory of all Welsh speaking staff to whom calls will be transferred).
But if a member of the public wishes to speak Welsh and relevant Welsh speaking staff are unavailable, an offer to return the call within a specified period will be made. But if the query is of a specialised nature, and there are no appropriate Welsh-speaking officers available, the situation will be explained, and the caller invited either to:-
We are involved in a number of public meetings throughout Wales each year and welcome contributions to these in Welsh. They vary from joint ventures with other agencies in presenting conferences or exhibitions, to smaller scale public meetings in village halls etc. Our approach to providing a Welsh language service will vary according to the nature, size and location of any public meeting held in Wales. As a minimum, in all cases, we will enquire about the need for a bilingual service. We will invite those coming to public meetings and events in Wales to say whether they wish to communicate in Welsh, English or a combination of the two.
When collaborating in the presentation of conferences, exhibitions etc we will request that:
We often meet with an individual charity’s trustees to discuss issues of mutual concern. These are not public meetings. Any person who wishes to conduct private or one-to-one meetings with the Commission is welcome to do so in either Welsh or English. A language choice will be offered when arranging meetings, and if Welsh is the requested medium, all efforts will be made to have a Welsh-speaking member of staff in attendance.
But if there are no appropriate Welsh-speaking officers available, given the nature of the query, the attendee will be invited to either:-
Our customer targets of:
Our Internet address is www.charitycommission.gov.uk. The Internet pages will contain items such as CC publications, general information and consultation documents. See 5.2 below for details of the information on our website which is available in Welsh. The home page will be bilingual, as will navigation buttons. Users will be able to choose to change to Welsh or English versions of text at any point in the site.
The Commission will adopt and present a fully bilingual corporate identity in Wales.
The Commission already has a Welsh logo that we display in all our offices and use in our Welsh publications. At exhibitions, conferences and other meetings in Wales, we actively promote our own information in Welsh. Fully bilingual signs will be provided in any public areas of the new Welsh office from the outset. On all our signs and in all our paperwork, the Welsh and English versions will have equal prominence and the lettering will be of the same size and colour.
We have over 40 publications in our CC range, in addition to other guidance and publications (such as the Registration Application Pack). The majority of these are available in English and Welsh. We will continue with our Policy adopted in 1996 of producing a Welsh version in hardcopy for all new or amended publications in this range that are expected to have a broad general circulation. There may be a few instances whereby certain technical or specialist publications aimed at a limited audience will only be published in English, unless there is a particular Welsh impact. A decision will be made in these instances only after carefully considering the nature of the publication and its target audience. New publications will appear on our website in advance of any hard copy version. Where a new or amended CC publication in the range of key publications is produced, the Welsh version will appear on the website at the same time as the English version. Where a hard copy is produced, again the Welsh version will appear at the same time as the English version. Where charges are made for any hard copy publication these will be the same for both Welsh and English versions.
Where we produce publications in co-operation with other bodies or government departments we will apply the terms of this scheme to ensure that where possible both English and Welsh language texts are available.
Our twice-yearly newsletter Charity Commission News is available in separate English and Welsh versions. In each version it will be made clear that the other language is available. Both versions will be sent to those charities that have indicated to us a Welsh language requirement for their Annual Return, or to those Welsh charities that have not yet indicated a language preference. We will publish and distribute the Welsh version at the same time as the English.
All mandatory forms with their explanatory notes are available in separate English and Welsh versions. These include Registration Application Forms, Annual Returns and the Register Check Forms, as well as application packs for schemes and trustee incorporation. The size and nature of these forms mean that it is not practicable to produce bilingual versions, but we will send both the English and Welsh versions on request.
Press notices, providing details of events in Wales, will be issued to the media in Wales bilingually. It will be a matter of choice by the publishers or broadcasters involved which language they choose to report in. Press releases, which deal with breaking news stories to UK wide newspapers and broadcasters, will be in English only.
Where formal public notice is required for any Schemes and Orders that we make for charities (using our powers under the Charities Act 1993), this is done at the expense of the charity. It is for the trustees to determine whether such notices should be in Welsh as well as English. This will be made clear in the guidance provided to them.
Although the original sealed Schemes and Orders are produced in English for legal reasons, where customers request copies of Schemes and Orders concerning Welsh charities, they will be offered a choice of an English or Welsh version, or both.
Where we place adverts for recruitment of staff in the Welsh media, we will either do so bilingually with the Welsh and English texts receiving equal prominence, or, where we are seeking to fill a Welsh-essential post, in Welsh only with an explanatory note in English. Welsh-speaking applicants will be welcomed and this message will appear in recruitment adverts.
Any advertising or publicity campaigns directed specifically at the public in Wales will be produced in both Welsh and English. These will include: -
The Commission recruits all staff under fair and open competition and always appoints the best person for the job. We will actively seek to recruit Welsh speakers to our office in Wales, and we aim to maintain at least 2 Welsh speaking staff in it. Where we need to fill a post where the ability to speak Welsh is essential, the recruitment advertisement will be exclusively in Welsh, with an explanatory note in English. Otherwise, recruitment advertisements for the Welsh office will be placed in both English and Welsh. However, where it is not possible to recruit a Welsh speaker, we will encourage staff recruited to posts in our Welsh office to learn Welsh, and where we do not have staff with the relevant technical competencies we will continue to use a translation service.
In order to ensure over a period of time that the Commission is able to deliver its services in Welsh to a high quality, both effectively and efficiently, it will adopt a Linguistic Skills Strategy as part of its human resources planning process. This strategy will enable the Commission to maintain an overview of its linguistic skill needs and resources and to co-ordinate training and recruitment activities to facilitate the Scheme's objectives. The measures that follow will form part of that Strategy.
In order to realise the above commitment, the Commission will undertake an audit of its services, provisions and staff in order to identify objectively:
Having conducted and analysed the above survey, the Commission will identify those posts for which the ability to communicate in Welsh is essential, desirable, or is not deemed required as a skill. Job descriptions will then be formulated accordingly.
All new posts and all existing posts that fall vacant will be considered in light of the Linguistic Skills Strategy of this Scheme. In doing so, the Commission will be conscious of the need to take every opportunity to rectify any deficiencies in Welsh language skills that will affect the delivery of Charity Commission Welsh language provision.
It may, on occasion, be necessary, where difficulty has been experienced in recruiting staff with the necessary skills, to appoint a non-Welsh speaker to a post where the ability to speak Welsh is essential. However, such posts will be advertised and offered on the understanding that non-Welsh speakers will need, as a condition of employment, to learn Welsh and attain a satisfactory level of fluency within a specified reasonable timescale. The level of fluency specified will be that which is required to fulfil the responsibilities of the post, and this will be made clear to applicants in the job details, as will the Commission's support for learning the language.
Existing staff who do not speak Welsh will be encouraged to learn it, and staff that speak some Welsh but are not fluent should be offered further training, with the support of the Commission. Training in Welsh will be focused on staff in posts that mean they come into direct contact with the Welsh-speaking public.
The Board of Commissioners has fully endorsed this scheme and the timetable for its implementation. Our departmental targets are monitored through processes set out by our Business Assurance Unit. Monitoring of this scheme will be measured as part of our usual monitoring processes. Our Publications Unit is currently responsible for monitoring our contracts for written translation services.
Key staff will be briefed on their responsibilities under the Scheme through a number of awareness sessions. These staff will also be issued with a copy of the final Scheme. All Heads of Functions will be made aware that new staff should be trained in the policy and Scheme.
All staff will be kept informed of the contents of the Scheme and their responsibilities in contributing to its implementation in respect of the Welsh Language Act. This will be done by suitable training for those who will need to implement Welsh language measures and this will be backed up by general information and guidance on linguistic sensitivity for all staff in the departmental journal and on the Intranet site.
A report will be sent to the Welsh Language Board each year (in an agreed format) detailing our progress against our plan for implementation. It will also record the feedback we have had, both positive and negative.
Details of our performance against targets set will be recorded in our Annual Report to Parliament, and included in our Report to the Welsh Language Board.
All of these arrangements will start on the date of this scheme
Our current monitoring of Customer Service targets will encompass compliance with the scheme and delivery of services through the medium of Welsh. Internal monitoring of the Commission's compliance with, and progress against, the Scheme will, in the main, be the responsibility of the Customer Service Group (see 6.3 above). The following aspects of the Scheme will be monitored:-
Responsibility for implementing the scheme will rest with Harry Iles, Head of our Newport Office and that for monitoring it will rest with the Commission's Customer Services Group, currently chaired by [vacancy] (Head of Customer Service), assisted by the Business Development and Review team, and reporting to Rosie Chapman, Director of Policy and Effectiveness, and a Charity Commissioner (yet to be appointed), who will have the role of "Consumer Champion". The main contact for the Scheme will be the Head of the Newport Office, Harry Iles, 8th Floor, Clarence House, Clarence Place, Newport, South Wales NP19 7AA.
Monitoring of the scheme will be a structured and continuing activity, which will also extend to those who provide or administer services on our behalf. We will:
In the third year of Scheme implementation, the Commission will prepare a comprehensive evaluation report that will look at performance in implementing the Scheme over the first 3 years. In order to review and update its Welsh Language Scheme and thus receive approval for the second period of implementation, this report will:
Many of these measures (for instance a suitable complaints procedure) are already in place. Steps will be put in place to task individuals with overall responsibility for ensuring that the remaining monitoring measures are implemented. Additionally, data will be kept by the appropriate functional areas of the Commission on the level of demand for Welsh language services, the amount spent on translation, and complaints received about services to Welsh-speaking customers, and this will form the basis of regular reports to the Customer Services Group by Business Assurance Unit.
Where we contract with other people to provide services to the public in Wales, we will require them to comply with this scheme. Copies of the scheme and details of monitoring the terms of the contract will be supplied to each service provider.
Complaints concerning the implementation of this scheme will be dealt with in accordance with our Customer Service procedures. Complaints should be addressed to the Customer Service Manager for the relevant area.
We can be contacted at the following addresses:
As well as publicising it among our own employees, the Commission will raise public awareness of the scheme initially through our website, and through a press launch targeted at Welsh language media. Copies will also be sent by e-mail to our main stakeholders in Wales. Once it has been launched, our website and all our publications will carry a message notifying readers of the existence of the Scheme, briefly what it covers, where they can see a copy and who to contact about it.
This scheme will formally take effect within 3 months of receiving the endorsement of the Welsh Language Board. This period will allow internal instructions and information on the scheme to be prepared and disseminated to staff. Particular elements of the scheme will be achieved in accordance with the following timetable:
| Objective | Responsibility |
Target date for implementation |
| Translation service for correspondence | Publications Unit |
Achieved |
| Translation services for meetings and roadshows | Operational Divisions |
Achieved |
| Distribution of Scheme to staff and availability to Public | Publications Unit |
3 months after agreement |
| Full range of free key CC Publications in Welsh on website | Publications Unit |
Achieved |
| Simultaneous release of key publications in English and Welsh | Publications Unit |
6 months after agreement |
| Database indicating language choice | IS Division |
Achieved |
| Database access offering bilingual menu | IS Division |
Late 2006 |
| Bilingual facility on core pages of website | External Communications |
Achieved |
| Linguistic Skills Strategy | Human Resources |
Achieved |
| Registration applications and particulars | RTN division |
Achieved |
| Corporate identity | Communications |
Achieved |
| Press notices in Welsh to Welsh media | External Communications |
Achieved |
| External service providers required to comply with scheme | Procurement |
Achieved |
| Telephone communication available in Welsh through interpreter | Commission wide |
Achieved |
| Monitoring and Mailing information in Welsh | Charity Database Division |
Achieved |