Madainn mhath. Is mise Shona NicIllinnein agus is mi ceannard Bòrd na Gàidhlig. ’S e aithisg dhùbhlanach a bha againne ach tha i air feum mòr a dhèanamh dhuinn.
Nuair a thòisich mise sa bhuidhinn, bha obair mhòr romhainn a thaobh a’ “Phlana Cànain Nàiseanta Ghàidhlig 2018-2023”—an treas plana—agus às dèidh sin a chur an gnìomh, thòisich sinn ag obair air atharrachaidhean. A’ tighinn a-mach às na h-atharrachaidhean sin bha e soilleir gun robh barrachd dhraghan ann na bha sinn an dùil agus, air sgàth sin, bha sinn a’ bruidhinn ris an luchd-sgrùdaidh againne. A-mach às a sin thàinig an sgrùdadh as doimhne a bha riamh aig Bòrd na Gàidhlig.
Thug na luchd-sgrùdaidh dhuinn plana leasachaidh mionaideach domhainn farsaing. A-mach às a’ phlana sin, thàinig structairean a tha a’ ciallachadh gu bheil a’ bhuidheann a-nis ag obair air leasachadh leantainneach agus gum bi na pròiseasan sin againn gu bràth.
Thairis air a’ bhliadhna a chaidh seachad, tha sinn air tòrr a dhèanamh airson na molaidhean aig an luchd-sgrùdaidh a chur an gnìomh, nam measg: a’ cumail choinneamhan gu poblach; ag ullachadh plana feachd-obrach; a’ neartachadh conaltradh taobh a-staigh agus taobh a-muigh na buidhne; atharrachaidhean ri structaran; agus prògram trèanaidh is leasachaidh mu choinneamh sin. Tha sinn air leth riaraichte gun robh an sgrùdadh bliadhnail seo a’ sealltainn gun robh toraidhean air leth math air a bhith ann.
Shona MacLennan continued in English
Good morning. I am Shona MacLennan, the ceannard of Bòrd na Gàidhlig. The report that we received was challenging but it was also useful. When I started in the organisation, there was significant work to be done on progressing the development of the third national Gaelic language plan, and that work took about a year to complete. As a result of that, I recognised that significant change was required in the organisation and started actions to implement change.
As a result of some of the outputs of those actions, we discussed our auditors’ concerns and, following that discussion, it was agreed that a wider scope audit would be carried out on the organisation. It has been the most in-depth review that has been done of Bòrd na Gàidhlig, and it resulted in a comprehensive and detailed improvement plan and structure, which means that the organisation now has in place continuous improvement processes.
Much work has been undertaken in the past year to implement the auditors’ recommendations, including holding board and committee meetings in public, creating a workforce plan, increasing internal and external communication, changes to structures, and a programme of training and development to supplement those changes. So much work was done that this year’s annual audit report recognised significant improvement.
It might be helpful for the committee to know a little bit about some of the work that Bòrd na Gàidhlig delivers. We work with more than 60 public authorities in developing Gaelic language plans, including the Scottish Government as it renews its Gaelic language plan. Our education team provides advice throughout the country and to the United Kingdom Parliament. Our director of education recently gave information to a UK all-party parliamentary group on oracy in Gaelic-medium education and matters such as cultural diversity in Gaelic-medium education for the Northern Alliance regional improvement collaborative.
We regularly input into draft bills and give evidence to committees. We are working with teams on the proposed human rights bill and we will give evidence on the Children (Scotland) Bill, because they both recognise linguistic rights, so Gaelic needs to be central to them. We are also working with the Scottish Government’s islands team on developing the islands impact assessment so that Gaelic is a part of it.
In response to Covid, we quickly established a resilience fund that was open to all Gaelic organisations, and we awarded more than £200,000 to help approximately 60 organisations to develop resilience. We work with many of our main funded partners to develop more online resources and create better access and branding for those to support Gaelic-medium pupils and their families during lockdown, so that immersion education can continue throughout these difficult times.
We have also been involved with our main funded organisations in adjusting what we expect them to deliver because of Covid. Much of what we fund is cultural and language events, so we have worked with them to make those events available online. That has led to thousands of people across the world participating in Gaelic language events. We have been developing networks to give leadership to the Gaelic community at this challenging time.
I hope that that gives the committee a flavour of how seriously we took the report and how much work we have done to implement it, and shows that we are continuing with our day job. I would like to reiterate a Gaelic saying that I included in my letter to the committee in June, because it describes exactly the process of continuous improvement:
“‘S e obair latha tòiseachadh, ‘s e obair beatha crìochnachadh. It’s a day’s work to start, it’s a life’s work to complete.”
Taing mhòr.
09:45