Regulatory Impact Assessment of the proposed standards
relating to the Welsh language for the health sector.
Introduction
A Regulatory Impact Assessment (RIA) can be regarded as:
a process to help the Welsh Ministers consider the impact of proposed regulation
on the interests of individuals, groups, organisations etc.

a tool to enable Welsh Ministers to weigh the costs and benefits of all options
available to them before implementing a policy; and,

a means of presenting for scrutiny the relevant evidence on the positive and
negative effects of such interventions.
It is important that the Welsh Government receives detailed and accurate information
in the responses to the questionnaire below, so that we are in the best possible
situation to provide full Information to the National Assembly for Wales as part of the
process of making standards through subordinate legislation.
The Welsh Government has published a Regulatory Impact Assessment Code,
which can be read in full here:
http://wales.gov.uk/legislation/guidance/riacode/?lang=en
Queries regarding this document should be directed to the Welsh Language Unit:
[email protected]
When we ask for staff costs in this assessment you are asked to provide cost in the
following way:
 you should identify the cost of a member(s) of staff in figures rather than in the
salary bands for your body.
 Costs should be to the nearest £’000
 If a member of staff works across more than one category of standards please
identify the cost once only
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
If only part of a staff member’s duties correspond with one of the task you are
asked to estimate the cost of, you should only include the costs that relate to that
element of the staff’s duties.
For example if a member of staff spends 50% of their time translating and 50% of
their time undertaking other clerical duties you should only identify 50% of their
salary against translation costs.
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Questionnaire
Name of the body General Osteopathic Council (GOsC)
Are there benefits to the body in complying with the draft Welsh language
standards proposed in this document?
Yes √
No
Is yes, what are these benefits?
Type of benefit
Economic Benefit
Social Benefit
Description of the benefit of complying with the proposed
standards
There would be a very significant economic dis-benefit to the
General Osteopathic Council in complying fully with the draft
Welsh language standards: compliance would cost the
organisation an estimated additional £156,662 annually, with
initial set-up costs of £112,032. The first year of compliance
with the new standards would require an estimated additional
spend of £268,694 – around 10% of our total budget for the
current year. By way of comparison our total income from
registrants in Wales in 2016-17 is estimated to be £75,380.
As the General Osteopathic Council is funded entirely by our
registrants’ fees, we would not be able to afford these costs
without raising fees, which would not be acceptable. Therefore
we would have to divert funding away from our essential
public protection functions, which represents a serious risk to
our statutory duties and to public safety.
See above.
Environmental
Benefit
Linguistic Benefit
We are committed to equality in all our functions and support
the rights of Welsh language speakers to be able to
communicate with us in the language of their choice.
Other – please be as
We have a commitment to ensuring that our activities as a
regulator provide equality of opportunity for all and this applies
to all our activities related to meeting our statutory duties and
the way we function as an organisation. We are pleased to
facilitate the communication of our policies and standards to
those of our stakeholders who are speakers of Welsh; this
would also encourage their input into our policy development
and delivery.
specific as possible
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What is the annual cost of complying with the current Welsh Language
Scheme?
Number of staff
equivalent to full-time
Cost (to the nearest
£’000) *salary costs
and contracting costs if
applicable.
Staff* with a specific role in
0.05
implementing your Welsh
Language Scheme
Training:
Welsh language courses
Courses to raise awareness of the
Welsh language
Translation
Publicising/marketing: specifically
regarding complying with the Welsh
Language Scheme
Others (be as specific as possible)
£2,440
£2,000
Included in above
Service delivery standards
Are the duties in the draft service delivery standards likely to have an effect on
your resources?
Service delivery includes:
Correspondence, phone calls, , personal meetings, meetings open to the public
meetings, clinical consultations, case conferences, public events, publicity,
advertising, public exhibitions, publications, forms, websites and online services,
social media, signage, reception of visitors, official notices, awarding grants,
awarding contracts, raising awareness of the Welsh services which are available,
corporate identity, courses offered by the body, public address systems and
standards relating to primary care.
Yes
√
No
If yes, what effect are they likely to have on your resources?
Staff* with a specific role in
implementing your Welsh
Language Scheme
Training:
Welsh language courses
Courses related to raising
awareness of the Welsh
Number of staff
equivalent to full-time
1
Cost (to the nearest
£’000)
£37,000
4
Language
Translation
Correspondence
estimate based on two
letters/complaints received per
year and responses in Welsh
Automated telephone system
message in Welsh
Meeting in Wales
estimate based on 1 meeting
Publicity and advertising
Estimate based on two press
releases per year on issues
related to Wales (we do not
advertise as such)
Agendas and papers for
meetings open to the public
Council
Policy Advisory Committee
Public information
Incl. brochures, leaflets,
pamphlets, cards
Corporate strategy/Annual
report/policies
Guidelines/codes of practice
Consultation papers
Legal proceedings
If we had one per year where a
Welsh speaking witness wanted
an interpreter and documents in
Welsh
Website
Microsites
Tenders
Based on 2 relevant tenders per
year
Annual monitoring report
Others
Website annual hosting,
maintenance and development
Microsites annual hosting
Certificates
Registration certificates for
osteopaths practising in Wales
on request –printing costs
TOTAL ANNUAL COSTS
£336
£42
£480
£84
£42,000
£31,500
£2,500
£2,000
£2,000
£3,300
£11,600
£7,400
£9,800
£260
£500
£5,440
£400
£20
£156,662
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Others (be as specific as
possible)
Initial costs
Registration certificate, initial
translation
Website – initial one-off costs for
a copy of structure, functionality,
navigation and content
management system
Website – initial one-off costs for
translation of all content
Microsites (4) initial one-off
costs for a copy of structure,
functionality, navigation and
content management system
Microsites – initial one-off costs
for translation of all content
Policies – initial one-off cost for
translation of existing policies
Document setting out how we
will meet standards
Complaints procedure
£42
£40,000
£9,500
£24,400
£17,140
£19,430
£1,350
£170
TOTAL INITIAL COSTS
£112,032
Policy-making standards
Are the duties in the draft policy making standards likely to have an effect on
your resources?
Yes
√
No
If yes, how are they likely to affect your resources?
Number of staff
equivalent to full-time
Cost (to the nearest
£’000)
Staff* with a specific role in
implementing the policy
making standards
Training:
Courses specifically related to
implementing the policy making
standards
Translation
Standard 155, 157, 159
Included in document
setting out how we will
meet standards under
Service Delivery
Standards, above
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Standard 156 – Complaints
procedure
Cost included in
Complaints procedure
under Service
Delivery Standards,
above
Cost included in
Annual monitoring
report under Service
Delivery Standards,
above
Standards 158 - Annual
monitoring report, recording
compliance with 158
Others (be as specific as possible)
Operational standards
Are the duties in the draft operational standards likely to affect your
resources?
Yes
No
√
If yes, how is this likely to affect your resources?
Number of staff
equivalent to full-time
Cost (to the nearest
£’000)
Staff* with a specific role in
implementing the operational
standards
Training:
Courses relating specifically to
implementing the operational
standards
Translation
Others
Record keeping standards
Are the duties in the draft record keeping standards likely to have an effect on
your resources?
Yes
√
No
If yes, how are they likely to affect your resources?
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Number of staff
equivalent to full-time
Cost (to the nearest
£’000)
Staff* with a specific role in
implementing the policy
making standards
Training:
Courses specifically related to
implementing the record keeping
standards
Translation
Annual monitoring report,
recording compliance with
standards 140-143, 147, 148
Standard 168
Cost included in
Annual monitoring
report under Service
Delivery Standards,
above
Included in document
setting out how we will
meet standards under
Service Delivery
Standards, above
Others (please be as specific as
possible)
This form should be returned by 14 October 2016 to:
Welsh Language Division
Education and Public Services
Welsh Government
Cathays Park
Cardiff
CF10 3NQ
e-mail:[email protected]
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