Investigation finds failure in consultation on school transport policy

Bridgend County Borough Council published a consultation document on changing school transport policy. We subsequently received a complaint alleging that the Council had not, within the document, taken into account, the impact of the proposals on the Welsh language, contrary to the requirements of the Welsh language standards.

In our investigation we considered the contents of the Learner Travel consultation document, which outlined five potential proposals for the policy change, along with the questions asked through a digital survey, and the additional evidence and documents provided by the complainant and the Council.

As part of the consultation, the Council had included specific questions seeking the public's views on the potential impacts of the proposals on the Welsh language. Our investigation also noted that a Welsh Language Impact Assessment had been completed by the Council in March 2024.

However, although the assessment was completed prior to the launch of the consultation, it was not shared with the public or included in the consultation document. As a result, the Council's considerations of the potential impacts of the proposals on the Welsh language were not presented as part of the consultation. While the public were therefore given the opportunity to give their views on the potential impacts, they did not have sufficient information about the Council's own assessment to enable them to fully consider the matter and respond meaningfully to the consultation and questions asked.

Following our investigation, we ruled that the Council had failed to comply with Welsh language standards and in particular standards 91, 92 and 93.

In announcing our ruling, we have set out further steps that the Council is required to take to ensure continuous improvement and sustainable compliance. You can read the report in full here.

This news item is published to fulfil the enforcement action of publicising the Council’s failure to comply and publishing the related investigation report, under section 77(3)(c) of the Welsh Language Measure.