Welsh language added as a protected characteristic in force

North Wales Police is further strengthening its commitment to the Welsh language by making it a protected characteristic.

The language already has equal status with English and is widely used on a daily basis in all business areas, but Chief Constable Amanda Blakeman wants to make sure that no current or future employees whose first language is Welsh are in anyway disadvantaged.

 She said: “Here at North Wales Police, we want to provide the very best service we can to our communities. We are committed to carrying out the best investigations we can and I know that victims and witnesses we speak to give their best evidence if they can do that in their first language.

“To ensure that this happens I need to make sure that our workforce has the opportunity to develop the skills and work in a bilingual environment where the Welsh Language thrives.”

Chief Constable Blakeman, who is a Welsh learner, said: “The Welsh language is important not only to my staff, but also to the wider communities of North Wales, particularly those where a significant percentage of people speak Welsh as their first language.

“We are as an organisation in a good place in terms of our Welsh language provision, but there is more that we can do to improve our services.

“That is why in principle and in North Wales Police I am introducing the Welsh Language as a tenth Protected Characteristic. This will ensure that the Welsh language is not treated less favourable than any other.”

One area for immediate action is the recruitment process. Work is underway with the College of Policing to ensure that the online assessment process, currently only available in English, is available in Welsh.

Chief Constable Blakeman said: “This is a challenge I have already made and work is underway to correct this. It is important that Welsh speakers have the choice to complete this in their own language.

“We already aim to provide a fully bilingual service to anyone who comes into contact with us for whatever reason, but if we are to continue to improve on this then we must also have a fair recruitment process that does not disadvantage Welsh speakers.”

All employees must have a knowledge of Welsh with different levels of fluency depending on the role. Support is available for everyone to improve their Welsh and this will continue.

Chief Constable Blakeman said: “We will continue to support everybody who wants to improve their level of Welsh speaking skills and make sure that they have better opportunities to use and practise their Welsh in the workplace. We owe it to our communities to be able to provide the best possible bilingual services.”