Chamber and committees

Good morning. My questions are for Dr Adam and Professor Kusters.

The BSL act has been in place since 22 October 2015, so it has been 10 years. That act of the Scottish Parliament stated that listed authorities had up to 12 months following the launch of the first national plan to publish their BSL plans. One concern that the committee has is that only 62 per cent of the local BSL plans were published in BSL at the same time as the English version. How should we hold listed authorities to account to meet the publishing requirements of the BSL act?

To me, that is basic. You can measure other things, but you should first do the most basic thing right.

My colleague talked earlier about the comparison with Gaelic. Dr Adam talked about capacity building. We have heard from the previous two evidence sessions that there is a lack of capacity, for various reasons, whether it is a lack of interpreters, a lack of teachers or a lack of training facilities. However, when I compare Gaelic to BSL, I think that 2.7 per cent of people in Scotland speak Gaelic, and I think that 2.2 per cent are BSL users. They are very similar populations, yet the Scottish Government spends £30 million a year on Gaelic. We asked our research team, but we cannot find any evidence on how much the Scottish Government spends on BSL.

Dr Adam, you talked about lip service. That is lip service, and you cannot manage what you do not measure. As the British Deaf Association said, there is limited funding to support any development and implementation of the act. What is your view of that?

You said that it is lip service, so it is almost aspirational but there is no implementation. The rubber has not hit the road yet.

Good morning. I have a few questions around the implementation of the 2015 act. Deputy First Minister, you say that any plan is only as strong as its implementation. Thank you also for the intent to shift the dial—I have heard both you and Mr McGowan say that this morning. There is recognition that there is a lack of complete implementation of the act. We have the figure of only 62 per cent of BSL plans having a BSL version.

On implementation, we have heard from the BDA that there is inconsistency across Scotland, there is lack of accountability and there is limited funding to support plans. Is there monitoring of the spend on BSL? We know that the spend on Gaelic and Scots is £30 million a year and that covers the 2.5 per cent of the population who speak Gaelic or Scots. Almost the same percentage of the population—2.2 per cent—are BSL users. The Scottish Government manages and sets a budget for Gaelic and Scots but does not seem to know what it spends on BSL. The question is why.

I note that the cabinet secretary used the words “gender” and “sexual identity”. Before asking my question, I will say that any legal action that was brought against the Scottish Prison Service in respect of its policies would be brought against the Scottish ministers. Have the Scottish Prison Service’s policies been brought into line with the Supreme Court judgment in For Women Scotland Ltd v the Scottish ministers?

Police Scotland’s review on the recording of sex and gender is on-going. However, that is not an excuse to kick the can down the road. The force provided assurances to the Scottish Police Authority that the timeline for review does not preclude any immediate improvements that have been identified and are required to internal practice or policy from being made. That is in stark contrast to what was said at the meeting that the Cabinet Secretary for Justice and Home Affairs held with the chief constable on 30 April, in which she emphasised that Police Scotland must await EHRC guidance on the Supreme Court ruling. Will the cabinet secretary’s Government get off the fence and finally issue an urgent directive to public bodies to comply with the law and put an end to this mess?

On a point of order, Presiding Officer. I would have voted no.

Konnichiwa. I thank Karen Adam for securing the time for today’s members’ business debate.

As we have heard, Thomas Glover was a truly remarkable man with roots that run deep in the north-east of Scotland. A strategist and an industrialist, he is lauded for his role, as we have heard, in establishing the Mitsubishi Corporation, a powerhouse of the Japanese industrial revolution.

Known as the Scottish samurai, Glover is venerated in Japan for his key contribution to industrialisation and modernisation, and that is why he was awarded the order of the rising sun, an extraordinary accolade for a man who hailed from the Broch.

As we have heard, Glover was born in Fraserburgh in 1838 on Commerce Street and educated in Aberdeen. Stonehaven, too, has a strong link to the man known as the Scottish samurai. In 2021, pupils from Mill O’Forest, Arduthie and Dunnottar primary schools worked with the Stonehaven sea cadets and the Stonehaven Horizon group to plant 120 cherry blossom trees in Mineralwell park. The garden was dedicated to the memory of Glover and is a living testament to his ingenuity and legacy.

As part of the Sakura cherry tree project, the garden has joined more than 1,000 parks, gardens and schools across the United Kingdom in marking 150 years of Japan-United Kingdom friendship and the continued co-operation between our two nations. The project was launched by the Japanese former Prime Minister, Shinzo Abe, and the UK Conservative former Prime Minister, Theresa May, in 2021.

There are always strong community champions behind such brilliant initiatives. Aberdeenshire councillor, Wendy Agnew, working with local MP Andrew Bowie, spearheaded the project and helped to see it through over a four-year period. It has been enchanting residents and visitors ever since. Wendy thanks the consul general and the whole of Japan for what she said is a very generous gift to Stonehaven. On behalf of the community, she would like to invite the Japanese consul general to place a plaque in the garden when the blossoms are out in spring next year.

As we underline the importance of Thomas Blake Glover, we can also take the opportunity to think about many Scots who left Britain to start inspiring adventures on the other side of the world. The Davidson family from Aberlemno, near Brechin, moved to Wisconsin in the USA and, with Englishman Bill Harley, became the founders of the Harley-Davidson Motor Company. David Dunbar Buick, the Arbroath-born plumber, became an icon in the United States after founding the Buick Motor Company.

Along with Thomas Glover, those individuals were self-starters, adventurers and visionaries, and they are testament to the incredible spirit of the north-east. Arigato.

Fine—I will go first, convener.

I thank the committee for its consideration of the petition. The petitioner, Tracey Smith, is with us.

As campaigners across the north-east fight tooth and nail to prevent a vast network of super pylons, battery farms and substations from vandalising our countryside, the petition remains vitally important. The community engagement by the monopoly transmission operator, Scottish and Southern Electricity Networks, has been nothing short of disgraceful, especially when the cost to life, land and location for my constituents is so high.

There are huge fears over the loss of productive farmland and farmers’ livelihoods, plunging property values and the impact of transmission infrastructure on long-term health, and massive frustration and anger over SSEN’s unwillingness to explore undergrounding or offshoring.

Meanwhile, the energy consents unit has given the green light to 236 separate applications for major electricity schemes across Scotland since May 2022, while only eight have been rejected. Scottish National Party minister Gillian Martin has met with SSEN 16 times, but has refused point blank to meet with campaigners.

We still do not know what action the SNP Government will take now that the consultation for reforming the consenting process has ended. In fact, since the petition was lodged, even the right to a public local inquiry and local democratic input is under renewed threat, against a backdrop of the SNP and Labour working hand in glove to strip communities from Kintore to Tealing of their democratic rights. Constituents in the north of Scotland feel that they are bearing the brunt of transmission infrastructure projects and that there is a deeply unjust transition.

As the committee considers the next steps, I urge members to address the wrecking ball that the SNP Government is taking to local democracy in the name of net zero.

I am happy to speak to that, convener. I am happy to elaborate—