Scottish Languages Bill – Passed by Parliament
The Gaelic and Scots Division would like to share with partners and colleagues the good news that the Scottish Languages Bill was passed unanimously yesterday by the Scottish Parliament. The Bill for the first time grants both Gaelic and Scots languages official status in Scotland and will protect, promote, and support the use of both languages in public life and education. Some of the key measures in the Bill include:
- introducing educational standards for Gaelic and Scots
- supporting the creation of areas of linguistic significance in Gaelic communities so that ministers can better target policies to support the language’s growth
- enabling parents in every part of Scotland to apply for Gaelic nursery and early years places for their children
- ensuring that more qualifications are available in Gaelic
- introducing targets on the number of people speaking and learning Gaelic
A link to the full press release issued by Scottish Government can be found here – Scottish Languages Bill passed – gov.scot
The Bill as passed is now available on Parliament’s webpage here . You can also find recordings of the full proceedings Watch now | Scottish Parliament TV and a draft copy of the official report on the Parliament website – Official Report
The Bill will now go through a process to seek and obtain Royal Assent. We anticipate this process taking approximately 5-6 weeks and will let you know when this process is complete.
Meantime the Gaelic and Scots team will be working on timings for implementation and next steps and will share further details of these plans in due course and look forward to working closely with our delivery partners in the months ahead to deliver on the measures outlined in the Bill to ensure our national languages are alive and growing.