Registration of Births, Deaths and Marriages (Welsh Language Provision)

I beg to move,

That leave be given to bring in a Bill to require that any birth, death or marriage certificate issued in Wales be issued bilingually in English and Welsh; to make provision for the issuance in England of birth certificates bilingually in English and Welsh where either parent named on the certificate is a Welsh speaker; to make provision for the issuance in England of death certificates bilingually in English and Welsh where the deceased person lived in Wales or was a Welsh speaker; and for connected purposes.

I extend my thanks to the Clerks and the team in the Public Bill Office for their invaluable and diligent assistance, and to the Minister, my hon. Friend the Member for Dover and Deal (Mike Tapp), for his support and for being in the Chamber today.

There is an old saying in Cymraeg—in Welsh: “Mae’r tegell yn berwi a dwi’n barod.” It means, “The kettle is boiling and I am ready.” The kettle has been on the boil for a long time in Wales, and Welsh people have been ready for decades to ensure they receive birth, marriage and death certificates in the Welsh language.

This Bill aims to give Welsh people, after registration, the right to receive such certificates in Welsh only, English only or bilingually. It is not the first Bill on this subject to come before this House or the other place—politicians from both Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru have presented Bills on this matter. The late Dafydd Elis-Thomas presented a Bill in the House of Lords as far back as 1999. As a proud Clwyd boy, I am pleased to say that next was a Bill by the then Clwyd West MP, Gareth Thomas, who presented the first Bill in the Commons. In 2009, he was followed by Hywel Williams, who presented another Bill to the Commons. While Welsh Labour and Plaid Cymru have led on this subject, there has also been notable support from politicians of other parties, including Lembit Öpik for the Liberal Democrats and Michael Fabricant for the Conservatives—the cheeky boys of the noughties.

This exceptionally broad support across the political spectrum shows that this is not a party political subject, nor should something as important and treasured as the Welsh language ever be party political. On that note, I acknowledge the work of the right hon. Member for Dwyfor Meirionnydd (Liz Saville Roberts), who has shared many discussions with me on this issue, and I look forward to continuing to work with her.

People who have lived in Wales may well have received their child’s birth certificate or a parent’s death certificate in both English and Welsh and be thinking, “What is the problem? What is the purpose of this Bill?” Sadly, there are many circumstances where people might not receive a Welsh or bilingual certificate and instead receive an English-only one. There are no rules or laws that say if someone lives in Wales, or is Welsh and lives in England, they can or must receive such a certificate in Welsh or bilingually.

That is what happened to a constituent of mine, Afryl Davies. I am delighted that Afryl is in the Gallery today, and I pay tribute to her and her family for their fortitude in the light of the tragedy they faced. Sadly, Afryl’s husband, Aled, passed away. Aled was a proud Welshman and a proud Welsh speaker, but his family did not receive a copy of his death certificate bilingually. They received only an English-language version. They wrote many letters, including to the coroner, the registrar and the General Register Office, requesting that his death certificate be reissued bilingually, but sadly they were turned down at every opportunity because of how the law currently operates.

Worse still, my constituent was told that their only option was to turn to the courts to attempt to secure a reissued certificate in Welsh. Afryl came to one of my regular advice surgeries to see if I could help, and I have got to admit that I was dumbfounded that this situation was somehow still possible in 2025. The Welsh Language Act 1993 and the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 were put in place to ensure that the Welsh language has parity and equal legal status with English and must not be treated less favourably, yet here we are, with a proud Welsh person who lived and sadly died in our capital city, and his family are as yet unable to receive his death certificate bilingually.

I think we can all agree that people living in Wales and Welsh people living in England should be able to receive their birth, death and marriage certificates in Cymraeg—in Welsh—or in English or bilingually, if they so choose. The previous Labour Government agreed with that and were in the process of making that law. That started in 2002, when there was a UK Government White Paper and a consultation exercise on the future of civil registrations. The “Birth, Marriage and Death Registration in the 21st Century” White Paper stated:

“The Government will extend the facility for bilingual (English/Welsh) birth registration to include events occurring in England to Welsh speaking parents. Presently, only births that occur in Wales can be registered bi-lingually in English and Welsh. This can cause a problem, for example, if a Welsh mother gives birth in a hospital over the border in England and cannot then obtain a birth registration in bi-lingual format. After the registration it will be possible for documents to be issued in Welsh only, English only or both languages…In line with birth registration, the Government will extend the facility to register a death in English and Welsh to include deaths which take place in England. After the registration it will be possible for documents to be issued in Welsh only, English only or both languages.”

Following the subsequent consultation period, the General Register Office was instructed by the then UK Labour Government to start looking into plans to make that provision possible. In 2009, the then Wales Office Minister Wayne David, stated that

“the Government remain firmly committed to producing Welsh language certificates, and the General Register Office is exploring the best way to do that.”—[Official Report, 11 March 2009; Vol. 489, c. 283.]

Unfortunately, the UK Labour Government of the day were not able to get that through the House of Commons before the 2010 general election, and the succeeding Conservative and Liberal Democrat Government would go on to abandon the plans, despite support from some of their own MPs, as I have already mentioned.

My constituents were told that they could not receive their beloved family member’s death certificate bilingually, because following the inquest the certificate was first sent to the registrar in English only, before then being sent bilingually. However, because the certificate had first been received in English, the death was accordingly registered in English only.

As I have said, because of the way in which the law currently works, my constituent has been left with no option other than to turn to the courts to attempt to secure a reissued death certificate. Afryl should have been afforded the dignity of receiving Aled’s death certificate bilingually, but she is instead faced with the indignity of having to consider recourse to the courts to try and secure it. That cannot be right. It is inhumane and it is unfair, and in 2025 it should not stand. If the last Labour Government’s proposals had become law, my constituents would have received that death certificate bilingually, because death certificates would be translated after the registration of death. This a key part of my Bill. The 2002 White Paper states:

“After the registration it will be possible for documents to be issued in Welsh only, English only or both languages.”

That, in a nutshell, is what my Bill is about: giving people living in Wales, and Welsh people in England, the right to have their or a family member’s birth or death certificate issued in Welsh, English or bilingually after registration. If no preference is given, such birth or death certificates should be issued bilingually by default. As for marriage certificates issued in Wales, those too should be issued bilingually by default. All of that was a policy aim under the last Labour Government, and it is a policy that still has cross-party support.

This is a long-overdue process, and I am determined to make it happen. We know that the last Labour Government asked the General Register Office to look into making it happen. A feasibility study must have taken place, so we know that a lot of work has already been done. We also know that with the law as it currently stands, there appear to be shortcomings in the procedural guidance for registrars, specifically in circumstances in which they are not Welsh speakers and a bilingual certificate has been requested. These issues raise broader questions about equity of service for Welsh-speaking citizens. I urge the General Register Office and others to look at them now and while, hopefully, my Bill is making progress. After all, the Bill does not need to begin from the starting line; we are picking up the baton in a race that we have already begun, so let’s get it to the finishing line.

I was born in Llanelwy—St Asaph, the “city of music”. I will not give my age away, but my parents wanted their children’s birth certificates to be in English and Welsh. Today, my constituents want their relative’s death certificate to be in Welsh or bilingual, but they have not been given that option by default. Instead, they are left to fight for it. This cannot be right in a modern Wales—a Wales proud of its language, a population proud of its country. I ask the Government to consider my Bill, and let us in Wales be proud of our country and proud of our language. “Cenedl heb iaith, cenedl heb galon”—a nation without a language is a nation without a heart.

That Mr Alex Barros-Curtis, Tonia Antoniazzi, Gill German, Andrew Ranger, Carolyn Harris, Dame Nia Griffith, Liz Saville Roberts, Ben Lake, Ann Davies and Henry Tufnell present the Bill.

Mr Alex Barros-Curtis accordingly presented the Bill.