Petition PE437, which is from Mr John Macleod, calls on the Executive to secure the future of the Gaelic language through the creation of a Gaelic language act. It calls on the Executive to develop a co-ordinated strategy for the language in partnership with local authorities and Gaelic organisations.The same matter was raised by previous petitions PE82 and PE385, in response to which the Executive set out in detail what action it has taken to encourage Gaelic-medium education. The figures are provided in the Executive's response to PE385. In the current year alone, a total of £2,834,000 is being spent, which is a rise of £200,000 a year over the past four years. The Executive highlighted other problems with the promotion of Gaelic-medium education, such as the shortage of qualified teachers. The petitioners want the Executive to go further. They believe that there should be an act and a co-ordinated strategy between local authorities and the Executive.Points a) and b) in the petition, which relate to Gaelic-medium education and Gaelic-medium teachers, appear to have been addressed by the Executive in response to PE385. I suggest that we copy PE437 to the Executive and request that it comment on the other issues that the petition raises, especially the promotion of the language and the delivery of public services and funding. We could ask the Executive whether it wishes to add anything to the information that it provided in its response to PE385 on its policy on Gaelic-medium education.We could also copy the petition to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, for information only at this stage.
Official Report · Committee
New Petitions
Gaelic Language (PE437)
Speakers
Choose an MSP to read only their contributions- John McAllion Lab 10
- Dr Winnie Ewing SNP 6
- John Farquhar Munro LD 5
The record
21 contributionsAm I right in thinking that Mike Russell already has a Gaelic language bill?
Does anyone know?
That was my understanding. Perhaps John Farquhar Munro knows whether that is correct.
I do not think that a bill has yet been published.
Is that the intention?
Yes, there is an intention to publish a member's bill. What concerns me is why we are not taking evidence on the petition.
That is just the decision that was taken. We are allowed to take evidence on only three or four petitions every week. I am told that there was a request to give evidence but, because we had dealt with those previous petitions and had received a lot of information from the Executive, it was felt that other petitioners deserved to be given the opportunity to present evidence.
It is strange that the petitioner does not call for the Gaelic language to be given official status, which is what is usually called for. That was in the manifestos of various parties.
The petitioner does not call for that.
It seems to me that that is the thing that should be called for first of all.
In the circumstances, it is important to get the Executive's response to PE437.
Absolutely.
The clerk's note on the petition clearly suggests that the previous petitions have simply been referred. That was admirable in the circumstances, but we have not received a response. That seems to happen with many of the petitions that come to us. When we refer them, we do not insist on a report from the committees to which we refer them. My fear is that, if we simply refer the petition, as we have done with the others, the result will be the same. I suggest that we take the matter one step further than referring the petition to the Executive. We should point out that, despite all the initiatives over the past three years for the Gaelic language, little seems to be happening. We are still getting representations on the lack of support for Gaelic, the lack of secure status for Gaelic, the lack of teachers to teach the language and the lack of Gaelic-medium education. We hear about those problems day in, day out. I suggest that we refer the petition to the Equal Opportunities Committee. It is a human right that people be given the opportunity to learn and operate in their preferred language. That would be the most appropriate thing to do with the petition. I am concerned and disappointed that we have not afforded the petitioners the opportunity to give evidence to the committee.
I take your point on that.You suggested that we should receive a report from the relevant subject committee. The current system means that, once we refer the petition to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, it becomes that committee's property and it is for that committee rather than us to report back to the petitioner. The Education, Culture and Sport Committee's responsibility is only to inform us that it has reported back to the petitioner.We have given evidence to the Procedures Committee and suggested that the Public Petitions Committee could take a more active role in reporting back to petitioners in future. I hope that that will be one of the recommendations in the Procedures Committee's report.I have no problem with raising with the Executive your concern that little seems to be happening. We are asking for its comments on the petition. We will decide, once we have the Executive's response, whether the petition should go to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee, which has dealt with the matter previously. It is chiefly that committee's responsibility. I do not think that the Equal Opportunities Committee has any real powers to do anything, as equal opportunities are reserved to Westminster. The Equal Opportunities Committee can comment on issues but I do not think that it can act. Is that right?
I will take your advice on that, convener.
Our clerk, Steve Farrell, can make inquiries about the powers of the Equal Opportunities Committee. When we get the response from the Executive, we can consider further whether we should refer the petition to the Education, Culture and Sport Committee or the Equal Opportunities Committee.
The background information in appendix A to the petition says that a "‘… Draft brief for a Gaelic Language Bill' was prepared at the invitation of the Scottish Office Minister … and submitted to him in May 1999."Perhaps we could get a copy of that. If the appendix is accurate, I would like a copy of the draft brief. I would like to read it.
We could ask for a copy of the brief and the Executive's response to it. We should try to get the Executive's response and decide what to do once we have it.
I have one other point. The Standards in Scotland's Schools etc Act 2000 contains a section that deals with Gaelic-medium education, which we secured when the act was passed through Parliament. The act makes it clear that local authorities in Scotland are expected to report annually on the provisions that they make for Gaelic and, if they make no provisions for Gaelic, what steps they intend to take to promote Gaelic. Two years have passed since the act was passed. I am not aware of any local authority having reported annually. Could we ask how many local authorities have reported?
We can raise that with the Executive and ask for detailed information on how many local authorities have responded to the act and submitted reports. We can ask for detail on what provision the local authorities have made or, if they have not made provision, what they intend to do.Is that agreed?Members indicated agreement.
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