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Am Bratach No. 195 Gaelic accounts not acceptable A small Skye-based company has challenged the notion that the Gaelic language has no place in official documentation by submitting its annual report and accounts for 2006-2007 to Companies House, Edinburgh, in Gaelic alone. This was the company's first annual report since the Gaelic Language Act of 2005 came into effect and it had to be registered before December 28 2007. Innleadaireachd Úi Dhonnghaile Ltd is a company registered in Scotland and was registered at Companies House, Edinburgh, in the year 2000. The main business of the company is engineering consultancy, but from the start one of its registered aims was to be involved in business in Gaelic. According to Peter Ó Donnghaile, a professional engineer and director of Innleadaireachd Úi Dhonnghaile Ltd, “Companies House did not welcome this development. Initially our accounts were refused, one of their inspection officers claiming that all Companies House documents must be in English.” Innleadaireachd Úi Dhonnghaile Ltd has challenged that notion, drawing the attention of Companies House to their own website, which includes documentation in Cymraeg (Welsh). Innleadaireachd Úi Dhonnghaile Ltd contends that accounts, calculated according to the usual standards but with their narrative in Gaelic are in a proper Scottish form.The accounts were re-submitted (still in Gaelic) to Companies House three weeks ago. Companies House have yet to respond. Companies House issued the following statement: “We at Companies House welcome and respect the diversity of cultures we have in Britain. However, under current legislation when you set up a company the registered office must be in either England or Wales (Scotland for Scottish companies). Documents including annual accounts must be supplied to Companies House in English (there are special rules about Welsh). Although our information is in English if you write to us in another language we will attempt to reply to you in the same language. We will also do our best to deal with telephone enquiries in the following languages, a list of which is available on our website. “After due consideration of your question, please note the following: The Gaelic Language Act 2005 does not cover private companies; The Gaelic Language Act 2005 does not cover UK bodies, though it welcomes any steps undertaken by them in the spirit of the act; Companies House is not included as a cross-border body under the Gaelic Language Act 2005; The term ‘equal respect’ as termed under the Gaelic Language Act 2005 is aimed at Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the Gaelic NDPB, in discharging its functions to develop the National Plan and Gaelic Language Plans; The Companies Act 1985, under which all companies registered with Companies House are bound, states in section 710b (2) a document to which this section applies may be in Welsh but shall on delivery to the registrar be accompanied by a certified translation into English. “With regards to Innleadaireachd
Úi Dhonnghaile Limited, we are unable to comment on individual
cases.” |