Languages bill unlikely to fix ‘perilous state’ of Gaelic

A report by a cross-party committee of MSPs has questioned whether a proposed languages bill will fix the “perilous state” of Gaelic and Scots. 

The Scottish Languages Bill, which is currently in its first stage, is intended to support and give an official status to Scotland’s indigenous languages to ensure their “long-term growth”. 

But a report published by the Scottish Parliament's Education, Children and Young People Committee is sceptical that the legislation will encourage more people to speak the languages.

Gaelic has seen some growth in recent years with the 2022 census recording that 2.5 per cent of the population have “some skills” in the language (an increase from the 2011 census).  

Professor Conchúr Ó Giollagáin, director of the Language Sciences Institute at the University of the Highlands and Islands, who provided evidence to the committee, said his research had indicated that the vernacular community in Scotland is around 11,000 people – about 0.2 per cent of the population.

While recommending that parliament backs the general principles of the bill, Sue Webber MSP, convener of the committee, said that more needs to be done to avoid it being  “purely symbolic.”

She said: “We have serious concerns about the future of Gaelic. On its own, we believe the Scottish Languages Bill does not address the challenges facing the Gaelic language or provide the necessary support to either Gaelic or Scots.

“While our committee has recommended that the parliament backs the general principles of the bill, the Scottish Government must do more to avoid it being purely symbolic.

“We’re also concerned by the lack of clarity around what the obligations attached to this bill mean for public bodies and local authorities regarding Gaelic and Scots. We would expect the Scottish Government to provide clarity on this, and the other concerns in our report, as scrutiny of the bill continues.”

The bill lays out several goals: to strengthen Gaelic-medium education; give further powers to the Gaelic public body Bòrd na Gàidhlig; and to provide support to areas of linguistic significance (ALS).

One of the main concerns for the committee has been surrounding the proposition to allow local authorities to designate their area as an ALS.  

To meet the criteria to be an ALS, local authorities need to have 20 per cent of their population speaking Gaelic, a historical connection with the use of Gaelic, or the provision of Gaelic education.

In their report, the committee noted that the bill does not provide tools, mechanisms or funding for the ALS schemes.

In his evidence to the committee, Ó Giollagáin said the bill would not introduce “anything new that will help the vernacular community in the islands with the linguistic crisis that they live with”.  

The bill is expected to be considered by the Scottish Parliament in a Stage 1 debate in the autumn.