Meeting of the Parliament 17 June 2025
Tapadh leibh, Oifigeir Riaghlaidh. The bill makes provision for local authorities to designate areas of linguistic significance. Those will be areas in which there are important numbers of Gaelic speakers or levels of Gaelic activity and that are clearly important for the future promotion and support of Gaelic language. However, in order for that approach to meet its potential, people must be able to trust that those areas will, indeed, be designated where appropriate.
Therefore, amendments 17 and 18 seek to strengthen the provision by requiring a local authority to consider whether any part of its area contains such a significant number of people with Gaelic skills and to consider submitting a proposed designation to the Scottish ministers if that test is met.
Amendment 17 would set a period of one year within which the local authority must give that consideration. As the committee’s stage 1 report acknowledges, there is a need for urgent action to ensure that our language and our language communities are protected.
Amendment 19 seeks to add to the provisions on the guidance that can be given to help local authorities with decisions, so that it may relate, in particular, to how they determine which areas could be designated as an area of linguistic significance. Amendments 20 and 21 seek to provide a ministerial power to require a local authority to reconsider in cases in which it has decided not to submit a designation proposal to the Scottish ministers.
Designating areas of linguistic significance will be a new development, with the potential to focus strong support on areas with Gaelic activity and significant numbers of Gaelic speakers. That important process will involve local authority decision making, community input, Bòrd na Gàidhlig advocacy and the involvement of the Scottish ministers.