Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what recent assessment he has made of the need to provide access to his Department's services in Welsh.

This Government is fully committed to the Welsh language and fully committed to providing Government services in the Welsh language where there is demand for them. It is important that in the non-devolved areas sufficient support should be given to the Welsh language, and the Government is committed to ensuring this is done.

The Ministry of Justice, and each of its main delivery arms conducting business or delivering services to the public in Wales, operate Welsh Language Schemes in accordance with section 5 of the Welsh Language Act 1993. These Schemes are used to ensure that Welsh language requirements are considered and delivered for the public and offenders in Wales, so far as is both appropriate in the circumstances and reasonably practicable.