Welsh-speaking inmates 'told to speak English' in prison

HMP Berwyn in Wrexham had 84 inmates who were registered as Welsh speakers in 2024

Welsh-speaking inmates have been told to use English by staff at Wales' biggest prison, according to former inmates.

Speaking to researchers at Cardiff and Liverpool universities, ex-prisoners at HMP Berwyn, in Wrexham,"described outright hostility toward the language from staff".

One said he was told not to speak Welsh with his solicitor during a supposedly private and confidential meeting.

The Welsh language commissioner said the research "causes concern" and suggests "the basic rights of Welsh speakers are not considered sufficiently".

A prison spokesperson said they "welcome the use of the Welsh language by prisoners, visitors and staff, and take all complaints seriously".

Prisoners in Wales have a right to speak Welsh and HM Prison and Probation Service is committed to "creating a bilingual environment" and to "promote the rights of Welsh speaking prisoners", according to its Welsh language scheme.

But in their research Dr Robert Jones and Dr Gregory Davies claim that "the Welsh language at Berwyn is evidently not treated on the basis of equality with the English language" and "the policing of Welsh by staff at Berwyn emerged as a consistent theme throughout our interviews".

Several individuals said they had been confronted by prison officers when speaking Welsh with fellow prisoners on prison landings and association spaces.

In some instances, they had been asked to explain what had been said, on other occasions, prisoners were instructed by staff to switch to English.

According to one former prisoner, called Gwilym, incidents like these occurred on a "daily basis", others in the report described "outright hostility toward the language from staff".

One interviewee, called Ieuan, told researchers he had been told not to speak Welsh with his solicitor during a meeting that was supposed to be private and confidential.

"I was on videolink with my solicitor and I was speaking Welsh with him, and the officer come in and told me to stop speaking Welsh, or else I'd get done for it. I'd get a nicking for it."

Dr Jones and Dr Davies also state that Welsh-speaking prisoners experienced significant delays when correspondence was written in Welsh.

One former inmate called Hefin told them that his "pad mate, he sent a letter [in English], and it arrived within two, three days".

"My letter [in Welsh] takes two weeks, three weeks, and if not, [it will] go missing.

"It was pathetic. I stopped writing letters in the end."

Welsh Language Commissioner Efa Gruffudd Jones will meet prison managers

Several interviewees remarked that they had experienced greater tolerance of the language in English prisons.

Conditions at HMP Altcourse in Liverpool, once widely regarded as north Wales' local prison, were described as "much more relaxed", according to Ieuan.

"Berwyn is meant to be a Welsh-speaking jail," said Ieuan. "And it's far from that. It's 100% not a Welsh-speaking jail.

"It's sold as a Welsh prison for Welsh [people], you know?" said Emyr. "A local prison stopping us going into Liverpool and things."

HMP Berwyn has the largest number of Welsh speakers of all of Wales' prisons, with 84 in 2024, according to Ministry of Justice figures.

A spokesperson for the prison said that "there are occasions when prisoner communications are restricted to English for security reasons".

Welsh Language Commissioner Efa Gruffudd Jones, said that she agrees with the calls in the research to "ensure that linguistic rights are fully respected".

Ms Gruffudd Jones will meet Berwyn prison management, which she said will be an "opportunity to discuss these matters and ensure that there is a significant improvement in the provision in the future".

Robert Jones and Gregory Davies conducted interviews with eight Welsh-speaking former prisoners who had previously been held in Berwyn between 2018 and 2022.

An article on their research is included in papers for a meeting of the Senedd's Welsh language committee on Thursday.