The Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011 states that the Commissioner will have an Advisory Panel.
The Commissioner may consult the Advisory Panel on any matter.
The appointment of the Advisory Panel
Members of the panel will be appointed by Welsh Ministers. The panel must include between 3 and 5 members at any one time, and members will be in post for 3 years.
Members of the Welsh Language Commissioner's Advisory Panel were announced in April 2012.
The members are Dr Ian Rees, Mrs Virginia Isaac, Mr Gareth Jones and Professor Gwynedd Parry. Their appointments will run from 1 April 2012 to 31 March 2015.
Dr Rees will Chair the Panel.
The Advisory Panel was appointed under the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011. The Commissioner may consult the Advisory Panel in connection with the exercise of his or her functions.
For more information about the role of the Advisory Panel go to Schedule 4 of the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.
The biographies of the Advisory Panel members
Dr Ian Rees
Dr Rees was a Headteacher of Ysgol y Moelwyn, Blaenau Ffestiniog, and was also a Principal and Chief Executive of Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor, Gwynedd.
In recent years he has served as a director of several organizations, including Canolfan Iaith a Threftadaeth Nant Gwrtheyrn and also a member of ELWa’s Mid Wales Regional Committee.
Dr Rees has a key senior role within Grwp Llandrillo Menai as Principal of Coleg Meirion-Dwyfor and Group Executive Director with responsibility for Regeneration and External Affairs.
Between 2006 and 2012 he was a Ministerial Appointment to the Arts Council for Wales. Between 2011 and 2012 he was an independent member of the Board of Directors of the Coleg Cenedlaethol Cymraeg.
He is Chairman of the Governors of Ysgol Treferthyr, Cricieth.
Virginia Isaac
Virginia Isaac was a Director of the Universities and Colleges Admissions Service (UCAS) for many years and a trustee of Cheltenham Festivals. She is also a governor of Cheltenham College.
Recently she was also engaged by the Quality Assurance Agency for Higher Education (QAA) to develop their commercial activity. In Wales she was a founder and director of Brecon Waters and is currently a Council Member of the University of Wales: Trinity Saint David.
Gareth Jones
Gareth Jones was Headmaster of John Bright School, Llandudno and a Councillor for Llandudno town and County Council Borough of Conwy.
He was elected a Plaid Cymru Assembly Member for Conwy 1999-2003, and then for the Aberconwy constituency between 2007 and 2011, following changes to the boundaries. During this period he chaired committees relating to education and enterprise and skills, and was a member of the Legislative Committee which scrutinized the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure on its journey through the Assembly.
From 2003 to 2007 he was Chair of Higher Education Wales’ Welsh Medium committee.
He has been an examiner for WJEC and a member of the team that translated Geography Terms into Welsh.
Currently he is one of five Commissioners serving the Isle of Anglesey County Council, and is also Chair of the North Wales Welsh for Adults Strategic Group and a trustee of Nant Gwrtheyrn Language Centre.
Professor Gwynedd Parry
Gwynedd Parry is Professor of Law and Legal History, and director of the Hywel Dda Research Institute at Swansea University. He is also a barrister and a member of Temple Chambers, Cardiff. He is an expert on the legal status of the Welsh language and minority languages jurisprudence, and is a fellow of the Royal Historical Society (FRHistS).