Way campaigns treated in consultations could change

The way in which responses to public consultations are recorded by the Welsh Government could be changed.

Welsh language campaigners Cymdeithas yr Iaith complained, after 275 responses from three different campaigns were disregarded in a consultation on a Welsh language bill.

An official said guidelines are not clear on how responses that form part of a campaign should be considered.

He said there was some basis to the complaint.

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There were 504 responses to a government consultation on proposed new Welsh language legislation.

A further 278 responses were submitted through 3 separate campaigns, 45 of which were sent in paper form - but they were only considered as three different responses.

Figures from the consultation that were published by the Welsh Government suggested that 56% of respondents either disagreed with or were unsure about replacing the Welsh Language commissioner with another body.

But Cymdeithas yr Iaith said the figure would be over 70% if the government had taken all the responses into account, rather than count all campaign responses as one.

In her complaint, Manon Elin from Cymdeithas yr Iaith claimed the Welsh Government had "ignored over half the responses to the consultation which means that statistics give a seriously misleading impression of the responses, especially by the public"

Responding to the complaint, Prys Davies, a senior civil servant in the Welsh Government, said: "I believe there is some foundation to the complaint.

"The guidance (to internal staff) does not provide explicitly clear guidance regarding how responses that support a campaign should be considered and counted, and this is a weakness that should be corrected."

Mr Davies recommends that the guidance be amended.

The Welsh Government said it noted Cymdeithas' comments and will continue to consider all responses received.