Welsh Language Standards (No.10) Regulations: integrated impact assessment

An integrated impact assessment (IIA) on Welsh Language Standards Regulations for Registered Social Landlords, and a proposal to add Community Housing Cymru to Schedule 6 to the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 and then to Schedule 6 to the Welsh Language Standards (No.2) Regulations.

Cymraeg 2050

The Welsh Government’s Cymraeg 2050 strategy was published in August 2017. The main targets of the strategy is to have a million people able to speak Welsh by 2050 and to double the number of Welsh speakers that use Welsh on a daily basis. To achieve the second target it is important that people are able to use the Welsh language with as many bodies as possible and that they are confident that they can access quality Welsh language services when contacting bodies. Statutory duties concerning the Welsh language are made through the Welsh language standards system.

Welsh Language Standards (‘standards’)

The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 (“2011 Measure”) makes provision for the specification of standards of conduct in relation to the Welsh language. Standards replace the system of Welsh language schemes provided for by the Welsh Language Act 1993.

Section 26 of the 2011 Measure enables the Welsh Ministers to specify standards, and section 39 enables them to provide that a standard is specifically applicable to a person by authorising the Welsh Language Commissioner (“the Commissioner”) to give a notice to that person requiring compliance with the standard.

Welsh Language Standards (No.10) Regulations

The Regulations specify standards for Registered Social Landlords. Before a body must comply with a standard, these conditions must be met: 

• The body must fall within a category in Schedules 5 and 6 (or Schedule 7 and 8) to the Measure.
• The standard must have been made specifically applicable to the body. This means that the Welsh Ministers have, in regulations, authorised the Commissioner to give a compliance notice to the body requiring it to comply with the standard.
• The Commissioner has given a compliance notice to the body which requires it to comply with the standard, and that compliance notice is in force.

It will be for the Commissioner to choose which of the standards contained in the Regulations to impose on individual bodies. The Commissioner has flexibility in choosing which standards, and the extent to which, a body has to comply as well as setting the date by which the body is required to comply with a standard. The Commissioner sets out that information in a compliance notice which is issued to the body.

A body will be able to challenge a requirement to comply with a particular standard on the grounds of whether it is reasonable and proportionate. In the first place, a body will be able to present a challenge to the Commissioner, asking her to determine whether the requirement upon it to comply with a particular standard in the compliance notice is reasonable and proportionate.

The standards are prepared with the aim of:

• improving the Welsh language services Welsh language users can expect to receive from bodies 
• making it clear to bodies what they need to do in terms of the Welsh language 
• ensuring that there is an appropriate degree of consistency in terms of the duties placed on bodies in the same sectors

Long term

The Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 requires public bodies across Wales named in that Act to work towards fulfilling seven well-being goals, one of which is ‘a Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language’. The Welsh Government has a duty to work towards achieving the well-being goals, including promoting and facilitating the use of Welsh. Section 78 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 also requires Welsh Ministers to adopt a strategy that sets out how they intend to promote and facilitate the use of Welsh. The ‘Cymraeg 2050: A million Welsh speakers’ (‘Cymraeg 2050’) strategy was developed in the context of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. The strategy has two key targets - to have a million Welsh speakers by 2050 and to double the number of Welsh speakers that use Welsh on a daily basis. 

Standards replace the system of Welsh Language Schemes provided for by the Welsh Language Act 1993 and serve as an important contribution to the Cymraeg 2050 strategy by increasing the provision of Welsh language services and enabling people more opportunities to use the Welsh language in their daily lives. Standards also introduce duties on bodies to provide more Welsh language services to their employees, and help bodies increase the use of Welsh internally.

Prevention

To ensure that the Welsh language is able to thrive, and the Welsh Government achieve the targets set out in its Cymraeg 2050 strategy it is important that people can use the Welsh language with as many bodies as possible and that they are confident that they can access quality Welsh language services when contacting bodies. Standards are intended to provide clarity to these bodies and those who deal with these bodies around what is required to be provided in Welsh.

Integration

Welsh Government’s Programme for Government includes a commitment to “begin work on implementing standards on housing associations”. Preparing standards for Registered Social Landlords, more commonly known as housing associations, not only fulfils that commitment but also contributes to Welsh Government’s Cymraeg 2050 strategy to promote and facilitate the use of Welsh by increasing the provision of Welsh language services and enabling people more opportunities to use the Welsh language in their daily lives. The strategy was developed in the context of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, which includes the goal of promoting ‘a Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language’.

Collaboration

Regulations are made and approved by Welsh Ministers. Once approved, standards are regulated by the Commissioner. The bodies subject to the proposals have an interest in the Regulations as well as their service users. 

Involvement

Bodies subject to the proposals, stakeholders, and the public in general were provided the opportunity to put forward their views on the proposals via a public consultation held between 24 June and 16 September 2025.

Impact

The proposals will enable the Commissioner to impose standards on Registered Social Landlords and Community Housing Cymru by issuing them with a compliance notice which will note the standards they are required to comply with, and by when. By doing so, those bodies will be required to provide Welsh language services in accordance with their compliance notice. Failure to comply with standards could lead to enforcement action by the Commissioner. 

Bodies subject to the proposals and stakeholders have had an opportunity to put forward their views on the proposals, including any perceived positive or negative impact, via a public consultation. 

Costs and Savings

The Explanatory Memorandum for the Regulations contains a Regulatory Impact Assessment.

Mechanism

Sub-legislation is necessary to achieve the policy proposals.

8.1 How have people most likely to be affected by the proposal been involved in developing it

A number of the bodies subject to these proposals already deliver Welsh language services in accordance with their Welsh Language Schemes. Draft Regulations were subject to a public consultation between 24 June and 16 September 2025. A link to the consultation was shared with sector representatives, Welsh language stakeholders, and housing stakeholders. 

During the consultation period, Welsh Government officials took part in a seminar arranged by Community Housing Cymru, the sector representative body for RSLs. The session was an opportunity to present the consultation on the draft Regulations to the sector, outlining the general principles and key themes underpinning the proposals. Representatives from the Welsh Language Commissioner’s (‘the Commissioner’) Office were also present to explain the Commissioner’s role once the Regulations are enacted, and how they can support bodies in achieving compliance.

8.2 What are the most significant impacts, positive and negative

Specifying standards for Registered Social Landlords and Community Housing Cymru will allow Welsh speakers to access more consistent Welsh language services from bodies subject to the proposals.

8.3 In light of the impacts identified, how will the proposal maximise contribution to our well-being objectives and the seven well-being goals and (or) avoid, reduce or mitigate any negative impacts

The Regulations will contribute to Welsh Government’s Cymraeg 2050 strategy, and the wellbeing goal of ‘a vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language’.

The Welsh Government has a duty to work towards achieving the well-being goals, including promoting and facilitating the use of Welsh. Section 78 of the Government of Wales Act 2006 also requires Welsh ministers to adopt a strategy that sets out how they intend to promote and facilitate the use of Welsh. The Cymraeg 2050 strategy was developed in the context of the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015, and its aims align with the well-being goal of ‘a Wales of vibrant culture and thriving Welsh language’.

The Regulations are intended to increase and ensure greater clarity and consistency in the provision of Welsh language services provided by bodies subject to the proposals with the aim of enabling people more opportunities to use the Welsh language in their daily lives.

8.4 How will the impact of the proposal be monitored and evaluated as it progresses and when it concludes

The Commissioner will monitor how the bodies comply with standards, and bodies will be required to publish an annual report. Bodies will also be required to ensure that they have arrangements for overseeing the way they comply with standards they are under a duty to comply with.