Bilingual Costs

21 February 2022

Dear 

ATISN 16008 - Total cost of Wales remaining bilingual

Thank you for your request which I received on 24 January. You enquired about the amount of money is spent each year to support bilingual Wales from the last financial year, including; 

1. The raw number on how much is spent.
2. What percentage that is of the total government budget.
3. How much is spent by every department and what percentage of your budget they all receive.
4. How much money is spent per region of Wales.
5. Amount spent on campaigns promoting the Welsh language.
6. Amount spent on translating and duplicating signs into welsh.
7. Amount extra needed to pay for staff in public sector jobs that are required to also speak Welsh.
8. Teachers salaries for Welsh lessons and/or additional curriculum coverage for Welsh.
9. How much on average is spent per person living in Wales.

Our response

I have structured my response below to reflect the different elements of your request. 

To clarify, please note that we are only able to provide information in relation to the Welsh Government. We do not hold any information that relates to Welsh local authorities and / or other public bodies. 

1.    The raw number on how much is spent.

As part of the Welsh Government’s draft budget for 2022-23, published on 20 December 2021, a total of £43.6m was allocated for the Welsh language from the Welsh Government resource budget of £18.8bn. 

2.    What percentage that is of the total government budget.

The percentage of the total Welsh Government resource budget is 0.23%. 

3.    How much is spent by every department and what percentage of your budget they all receive.

We do not hold this information as the Welsh language is mainstreamed into all Welsh Government policy areas – it is an intrinsic part of all that we do. It is therefore not possible to calculate the amount of money spent on the Welsh language by individual departments across the Welsh Government. 

All Welsh Ministers are expected to consider the Welsh language as part of their policy development work in line with the Welsh Language Standards, the Government of Wales Act 2006 and the Welsh language strategy, Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers. Some projects will concentrate wholly on the Welsh language and others will include reference to the language. It is therefore, as mentioned above, impossible to calculate how much money in total is spent on the language. 

4.    How much money is spent per region of Wales.

We do not hold this information. 

5.    Amount spent on campaigns promoting the Welsh language.

During the 2020-21 financial year, £218,000 was spent on campaigns promoting the Welsh language. 

6.    Amount spent on translating and duplicating signs into welsh.

We do not hold this information. 

All road and pedestrian signs created by the Welsh Government have been created bilingually for many years, in compliance with the Welsh Language Standards and before that, in line with the Government’s Welsh Language Scheme. As a result of creating road signs bilingually from the outset, there is no duplication.

The Welsh Government is the highway authority for the motorway and trunk road network in Wales and is responsible for the provision and maintenance of traffic signs on these roads only. Unitary authorities are responsible for the other roads in Wales, referred to as the county road network.

For signs on the trunk road network, translation is generally provided by the sign designer and included in the overall cost of the sign. The designs are checked by the Welsh Government Translation Service as required. We do not hold a breakdown of costs for these activities.  

For more common traffic signs, a suite of bilingual working drawings are provided free of charge on the Welsh Government website:  

Traffic signs and road markings

7.    Amount extra needed to pay for staff in public sector jobs that are required to also speak Welsh.

We do not hold this information.

8.    Teachers salaries for Welsh lessons and/or additional curriculum coverage for Welsh.

The schools budget is paid via the revenue settlement grant and is allocated to local authorities by the Welsh Government. Teachers’ salaries are the same regardless of whether they teach at English or Welsh medium settings. 

The salaries of tutors who teach Welsh to adults under the National Centre for Learning Welsh will be agreed under the terms and conditions of the individual provider that delivers the teaching.

9.    How much on average is spent per person living in Wales.

We do not hold this information. 

Next steps

If you are dissatisfied with the Welsh Government’s handling of your request, you can ask for an internal review within 40 working days of the date of this response. Requests for an internal review should be addressed to the Welsh Government’s Freedom of Information Officer at: 

Information Rights Unit
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ 

or Email: Freedom.ofinformation@gov.wales

Please remember to quote the ATISN reference number above.    

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at:

Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow
Cheshire
SK9 5AF

However, please note that the Commissioner will not normally investigate a complaint until it has been through our own internal review process.

Your sincerely