Welsh Language Scheme Prepared under the Welsh Language Act 1993

Welsh Language Scheme policy statement The Money Advice Service 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 Money Advice Service will give effect to that principle when providing services to the public in Wales.

Aims of the policy The aim of the policy is to enable everyone who receives a service from the Money Advice Service in Wales, or communicates with it, to do so through the medium of English or Welsh, according to their personal choice.

The Money Advice Service Welsh Language Scheme was approved by the Welsh Language Board on 26th March 2012.

This Scheme will not be altered without the prior approval of the Welsh Language Board/Welsh Language Commissioner.

Queries Queries in regards to the Money Advice Service Welsh Language Scheme should be directed to Lee Phillips at [email protected] or PO Box 633, Cardiff, CF11 1PA.

Contents page Foreword ...........................................................................................................................1 Introduction ........................................................................................................................2 Who we are, how we are organised, and what we do .....................................................2 How do we help? ............................................................................................................2 Our strategy ...................................................................................................................2 General principles ..............................................................................................................4 New policies and initiatives.............................................................................................4 Service standards ..........................................................................................................4 Responsibility for, and delivery of, the Scheme ..............................................................4 Measures for dealing with the public in Wales ...................................................................5 Correspondence.............................................................................................................5 Telephone calls ..............................................................................................................6 Public meetings ..............................................................................................................6 Personal attendances.....................................................................................................6 Other dealings with the public ........................................................................................7 Corporate identity ...........................................................................................................7 Signs in Wales ...............................................................................................................7 Publications ....................................................................................................................7 Forms and explanatory material .....................................................................................8 Website ..........................................................................................................................8 Press notices, advertising and publicity ..........................................................................9 Services delivered on behalf of the Money Advice Service by other parties ................... 9 Partnership working......................................................................................................10 Recruitment and staffing strategy ................................................................................. 10 Implementing, monitoring and publishing this Scheme..................................................... 11 Third-party contracts ....................................................................................................12 Reviewing the Scheme.................................................................................................12 Appendix 1 – list of current resources available in Welsh................................................. 13 Appendix 2 – Welsh Language Scheme timetable ........................................................... 14

Foreword The Money Advice Service is an independent organisation providing free, unbiased money advice. People’s everyday needs and wishes are at the heart of what we do. We believe that the right money advice can make a real difference to their lives, and that when people take steps to manage their money better they can live better too – because they have more control. Launched as the Consumer Financial Education Body (CFEB) in April 2010, and rebranded as the Money Advice Service in April 2011, we were set up under the Financial Services Act 2010 to help people understand financial matters and manage their finances better. Although the Financial Services Act 2010 makes no distinction between how we fulfil our functions across the UK, we recognise that there are diverging needs and increasing legislative and policy differences in Wales, Northern Ireland, Scotland and England. This influences our policy, design and delivery functions in all the countries of the UK. This Money Advice Service Welsh Language Scheme outlines our commitment to the Welsh language when providing services to the public in Wales. We have adopted the principle that in the conduct of public business in Wales we will treat the English and Welsh languages on the basis of equality. This Scheme sets out how we will give effect to that principle when providing services to the public in Wales. We have been working closely with the Welsh Language Board in developing this Scheme and are now pleased to publish the final Scheme.

Tony Hobman Chief Executive, The Money Advice Service

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Introduction Who we are, how we are organised, and what we do 1. The Money Advice Service is here to help everyone manage their money better. We do this by giving clear, unbiased money advice to help people make informed choices. 2. We believe that the right money advice can make a difference to people’s lives. And when people take steps to manage their money better, they can live better too. 3. The Money Advice Service is a free, independent service. We were set up by government and are funded by a levy on the financial services industry. 4. We do not have an office in Wales although we currently have three members of staff who are based in Wales. How do we help? 5. Our advice and information is available online, over the phone and face to face. We provide tailored money advice to help you make choices throughout your life, whatever your circumstances. 6. The Money Advice Service is a free, independent service. We were set up by government and are funded by a levy on the financial services industry. Its statutory objectives are to enhance the understanding and knowledge of members of the public about financial matters (including the UK financial system), and to enhance the ability of members of the public to manage their own financial affairs. Our strategy 7. "To enhance people’s lives because they take control of their money as a matter of course." 8. We will do this by: •

encouraging everyone to manage money well

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achieving greater leverage from our work, and

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operating effectively and authoritatively.

9. Encouraging everyone to manage money well. We plan to make a real impact on people’s behaviour and on society as a result.

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10. Achieving greater leverage from our work. We will do this by working with and influencing the financial services industry, and regulatory and public policy agendas. 11. Operating effectively and authoritatively. We will do this by being an efficient, well-run and continually improving organisation with the right values, skills, competencies and resources to succeed in the task.

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General principles 12. The Welsh Language Scheme is linked to the Money Advice Service Equality and Diversity Policy. Our commitment is that the Money Advice Service values diversity and works inclusively. This enables us to meet our core aim of helping all people to take control of money and to enhance their lives as a result. 13. This means that we: •

value diversity and work inclusively as an employer and comply with UK legislation

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provide a universal service that is accessible and responsive to people’s needs, and

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ensure that equality, diversity and inclusion issues, opportunities and risks are identified and acted upon throughout the organisation.

New policies and initiatives 14. When developing new policies and procedures, or considering the impact of Government policies and initiatives, we will have full regard to the needs of users of the Welsh language. Our policies and initiatives will be consistent with the measures in this Scheme. 15. We will implement a formal process to ensure that the principles of the Welsh language scheme are considered at the implementation stage. We will do this by incorporating a requirement to consider any impact on this Scheme in our standard project management process. Service standards 16. We will ensure that our services are available to the public in Welsh and let the public know that they are available. 17. We are committed to delivering equally high-quality services in Welsh as in English as defined in this Scheme. Our performance targets and service standards apply equally to in the standard of services provided in both languages. We are working towards being consistent in the provision of our Welsh language services to align with our English language services. 18. We will participate in financial industry sector committees and networks to promote the consistency of language use in the financial sector. Responsibility for, and delivery of, the Scheme 19. The Chief Executive of the Money Advice Service has overall responsibility for the operation of this Scheme.

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Measures for dealing with the public in Wales 20. This section is addressed to the users in Wales of The Money Advice Service products and services. 21. The Money Advice Service is currently reviewing all of its products and services. This review will ensure the Service is authoritative and delivered through costeffective, high-reach channels. It will be consumer-centric rather than informationcentric, and will focus on customers’ aspirations rather than just their problems. It will enable and encourage action without preaching or being patronising. 22. To do this we will develop and launch a comprehensive multi-channel service with a new product set including the content and money planners on our website. We aim to launch the new service in September 2012 at the latest and it will be bilingual from full launch. Until then, our current products and services that are not bilingual will not be translated until we are clear that they will continue to be available. We currently expect the new service to be available by September 2012. The services we provide that are bilingual or in Welsh will continue to be available alongside their English equivalent or until the launch of our new products and services. Correspondence 23. We welcome letters in Welsh. A reply will be sent in Welsh. Our target time and quality standards for replying to letters in Welsh are exactly the same as for replying to letters in English. 24. When initiating correspondence in any office that deals with users from Wales, we will write in Welsh to members of the public who we know prefer to correspond in the Welsh language, unless requested otherwise. Any ‘circular’ letters we issue to the public in Wales will be bilingual. 25. Electronic correspondence will follow the same principles as above and the contact details of staff based in Wales on all electronic messages will be bilingual.

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Telephone calls 26. The Money Advice Service does not have a Wales office although there are currently two staff based in Wales. Non-Welsh-speaking staff based in Wales will answer telephone calls with a greeting and the name of the organisation bilingually. If the caller speaks Welsh, then staff will explain that they cannot speak Welsh themselves. As there are currently no Welsh-speaking staff in the Money Advice Service, the caller will be offered the option of either continuing the call in English or to write to the organisation in Welsh. 27. There is a call centre based in England that receives calls for money advice from across the UK. This centre is staffed by non-Welsh speakers; however, when a vacancy becomes available, there will be a recruitment advert encouraging applications from Welsh speakers. 28. The contract for the telephone advice service will be renewed by 2013. Any new tender for the Money Advice Service telephone advice line will include the need to provide a bilingual service as part of the new contract arrangements. 29. If employing a Welsh speaker in the meantime is not possible, callers will be offered the option of either continuing the call in English or to write to the organisation in Welsh. Also, once the bilingual website is available from September 2012, callers will also be directed to the Welsh information online. Public meetings 30. When we arrange meetings in Wales that members of the public can attend, attendees are as welcome to speak in Welsh as in English. Invitations and notices publicising the event will be bilingual and attendees will be asked their language choice in advance. Where we are informed attendees wish to speak Welsh, we will provide simultaneous translation. Personal attendances 31. Most of our business is conducted online, over the telephone and in Wales by Citizens Advice Cymru, face to face. Our face-to-face clients in Wales are covered by the Citizens Advice Cymru Welsh Language Scheme. 32. We have prepared internal guidance for all our employees explaining what they need to do to comply with the measures of this Scheme in their dealings with the general public in Wales.

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Other dealings with the public 33. When we undertake public surveys, we will ensure that communication with the public in Wales will be bilingual. Respondents will be asked if they wish to respond to the survey in Welsh or English. We will exclude PR surveys from this. 34. When we arrange seminars, training courses or similar events for the public in Wales, we will assess the need to provide them in Welsh. In conducting this assessment, we will consider the preferred language of those attending and the availability of Welsh speaking trainers. Corporate identity 35. We have a Welsh language version of our logo. Any staff designated to deal with regular work for people in Wales will use bilingual stationery when dealing with people in Wales. 36. Public signs for which we are responsible for display at our conferences etc are bilingual. Signs in Wales 37. We will ensure that all of our permanent and temporary signs which give information to the public will be bilingual, with the Welsh and English text being treated equally with regard to size, legibility and prominence. 38. We will adhere to this practice whenever signs are being installed for the first time, or whenever we are replacing signs. 39. If separate Welsh and English signs are provided, they will be equal in terms of format, size, quality and prominence. 40. The above will apply to all types of signs, including electronic signs. Publications 41. We currently have six A5 bilingual guides available including our most popular guide Making the most of your money. 1 42. No further translations will be done until we have completed our products and services review in June 2012.

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See Appendix 1 for a list of all our current resources available in Welsh.

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43. Once the review is complete and our new resources become available (we expect this to be in September 2012), all materials intended for the public in Wales will be produced bilingually, with the favoured format being Welsh and English together in one document. However, should the size or complexity of the document dictate the need for separate Welsh and English versions, then both versions will be equally accessible and it will be stated in both that the document is also available in the corresponding version. 44. This Scheme does not cover technical documents, contracts, technical guidance, invitations to tender and similar publications (for example consultation responses) where circulation is limited to the technical community eg consumer organisations, financial institutions and advice providers and their representative bodies. Forms and explanatory material 45. We will ensure that all forms and associated explanatory material for use by the public in Wales will be fully bilingual, with the Welsh and English versions together in one document by September 2012. This will include interactive forms published on our websites. Website 46. The Money Advice Service currently has one website designed to give advice to the public. All of our services, including the website and its content, are currently under review. The public information content of our website in both English and Welsh will remain the same (apart from our health check) until this review has been completed. Once we have defined the shape and volume requirements for our new products and services we will ensure that, in regards to our website, new content will be available bilingually. We expect that from September 2012, our website will be available in both English and Welsh languages. 47. Exceptions to this will be video content and all digital media that works within an environment of instant communication, such as social media, including Twitter, and online advertising. We will review this decision in April 2013. 48. The questions and action plans for our most popular online tool, the health check, is now available in Welsh.

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49. The Money Advice Service will ensure that all documents of particular interest to the public in Wales will be made available in both English and Welsh on our websites (eg a response the NHS in England will not be bilingual whereas a response to the NHS in Wales will be bilingual). It will be clearly noted how to access the Welsh language material that is available. Press notices, advertising and publicity 50. We will issue bilingual press notices to the press and broadcasting media in Wales where the subject matter is of particular interest to the public in Wales. We will also place bilingual copies of any press notice that we issue on the Money Advice Service website to reach a wider audience of Welsh speakers. We do not have any Welsh speakers able to give media interviews. 51. We will issue English advertisements in English language publications with a local circulation in Wales. Advertisements in Welsh language publications will be in Welsh only. 52. Publicity campaigns that run in Wales will be communicated in both Welsh and English (that is in English in English broadcasting media and in Welsh in Welsh media).Exceptions to this are advertisements designed for viewing across the UK on UK broadcasting channels which will run in English only. In Wales, exhibits and displays for the public are bilingual. Services delivered on behalf of the Money Advice Service by other parties 53. When we enter into an agreement with another public body to jointly deliver a service to the public we will ensure that the service provided is consistent with the terms of this Scheme or their own Welsh Language Scheme. 54. The Welsh Language Act 1993 does not directly cover the majority of the few organisations which receive the Money Advice Service funding to provide advice services. We will nevertheless encourage funded organisations to adopt the ethos of the Act, and any subsequent legislation (for example the National Assembly for Wales Welsh Language Measure 2011) through the contracts that we let where this is appropriate and reasonable. Where the Act does cover a funded organisation, such organisation will provide its services in accordance with its own Scheme.

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Partnership working 55. Where we are the strategic and financial leader within a formal partnership, for example through joint commissioning, we will ensure that any public service aspects comply with this Scheme. 56. When we join a formal partnership which another organisation is leading, our input to the partnership will comply with this Scheme and we will encourage the other partners to comply. 57. When we are a partner in a consortium, we will encourage the consortium to comply with this Scheme. When acting in the name of the consortium, we will operate in accordance with this Scheme. Recruitment and staffing strategy 58. We currently employ two people in Wales. 59. Where we identify a business need for a Welsh speaker, such as a public-facing position, we will place bilingual adverts in papers and journals circulating generally in Wales and England, where the objective is to attract Welsh speakers to the workforce. 60. Our staff in Wales will be encouraged to learn or improve their Welsh – and we will support those who wish to do so. Priority will be given to those who have extensive and regular contact with the public, or who regularly deal with Welsh speakers as part of their work. 61. We will fund this training and allow staff to attend courses during work hours. 62. We will develop the ability of our Welsh speaking staff to operate in Welsh by providing vocational training in Welsh, whenever practicable. 63. Recruitment advertisements for staff in Wales-based publications will be bilingual. This commitment will be followed even if the post to be filled is not one where the ability to speak Welsh is a desirable or essential factor. Advertisements in the major UK newspapers will normally be in English. 64. We will ensure that all key new staff, regardless of the location of their office, will receive an overview of the Welsh Language Scheme as part of their induction.

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Implementing, monitoring and publishing this Scheme 65. We will ensure that we use only qualified translators or interpreters for translation of electronic and printed material, and for simultaneous translation. We will expect those translators to be members of the Association of Welsh Translators or a similar organisation. 66. A timetable for giving effect to the measures in this Scheme is at Appendix 2. 67. This Scheme will be monitored on an ongoing basis by the Money Advice Service, and a specific bilingual report on our performance in implementing and delivering this Scheme will be produced annually, available publicly on our website and copied to the Welsh Language Board. 68. Complaints from members of the public about a failure to comply with this Scheme will form an important part of the monitoring process. Any complaint about our services in Welsh should be addressed to the Complaints Manager, The Money Advice Service, 120 Holborn, London, EC1N 2TD. Any such complaints will be dealt with to the same time and quality standards as our usual complaints procedure. If you are dissatisfied with our response in regards to our compliance with this Scheme, you may take the matter up with the Welsh Language Board or the Welsh Language Commissioner. 69. Suggestions for improvement to our services in Welsh are also welcome and will be considered as part of our monitoring process. They should be directed to the same address as at paragraph 68 above. 70. This Scheme will be advertised by placing a downloadable bilingual document on our website. We will also comply with any guidance issued by the Welsh Language Board/Commissioner on how to publicise the Scheme.

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71. As part of the annual report on our Welsh Language Scheme to the Welsh Language Board/Commissioner, we will monitor and include some performance indicators, for example: •

the number and percentage of staff in Wales who have received training in Welsh to a specific qualification level

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the number and percentage of staff who have received language awareness training

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the number of complaints received in relation to the operation of the Language Scheme and the percentage dealt with in accordance with corporate standards, and

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the number of people who access our Welsh language content.

Third-party contracts 72. Any agreements or arrangements which we make with third parties will be consistent with the relevant parts of this scheme, where those agreements or arrangements relate to the provision of services to the public in Wales. This will ensure that third parties provide those services in accordance with this Scheme. Reviewing the Scheme 73. We will review this Scheme within three years of its coming into effect. 74. Also, from time to time, we may need to review this scheme, or propose amendments to this scheme, because of changes to our functions, or to the circumstances in which we undertake those functions, or for any other reason. 75. No changes will be made to this scheme without the Welsh Language Board/Commissioner’s approval.

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Appendix 1 – list of current resources available in Welsh A5 printed guides – bilingual tilt and turn Basic bank accounts Getting financial advice Making a complaint Making the most of your money Problems paying your mortgage Late miscarriage, stillbirth and neonatal death: what financial help is available? Online only – bilingual Sending money safely guide Materials for the face-to-face service – bilingual Core poster (promoting the Service) Empty belly poster (promoting a session taking place, location is editable) B2B flyer B2C flyer Letter head Promotional credit card A5 generic flyer Pens Website Health check Welsh overview page of the Money Advice Service

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Appendix 2 – Welsh Language Scheme timetable

Welsh Language Scheme timetable target

Completion date

New policies and initiatives Incorporate a requirement in our standard project-management process to consider any impact on this scheme on the implementation stage of new policies and procedures.

Completed

Staff guidance Provide guidance to staff about how to implement and deliver the commitments made in the scheme.

Completed

Publications review Review the Money Advice Service publications, leaflets, forms etc to discern what needs to be produced in Welsh.

In place after product and resource review in September 2012

Website review Ensure that all relevant sections of the website are available in Welsh (including any Welsh versions of publications, leaflets, forms etc).

In place after product and resource review in September 2012

Online health check Ensure the questions and action plan for the health check online tool is available bilingually.

Completed and active

Social media Review the decision to not translate video content and all digital media that works within an environment of instant communication, such as social media, including Twitter, and online advertising

April 2013

Forms and explanatory material Ensure that all forms and associated explanatory material for use by the public in Wales will be fully bilingual, with the Welsh and English versions together in one document.

September 2012

Publicity for the scheme Publicise the scheme on the website and any relevant publicity material.

Within 3 months of scheme approval

Language choice Put measures in place to establish a customer’s language choice.

Within 3 months of scheme approval

Monitoring the service Put measures in place to measure demand and to ensure that customers can provide feedback about the Welsh language service.

Within 6 months of scheme approval

Telephone Advice Line Ensure the criteria for any future tender includes the delivery of a Welsh Language advice line.

April 2013

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Queries in regards to the Money Advice Service Welsh Language Scheme should be directed to Lee Phillips at [email protected] or PO Box 633, Cardiff, CF11 1PA.