Chamber and committees

I am sorry, Mr Rennie, but I must come to George Adam now. He has been waiting for the last group of questions.

We have touched on the fact that there is a lot of focus on structural change and not really a focus on the cultural change that is needed. I will direct my question to Professor Priestley first. Do you agree that, to get that focus on the cultural change, we first need to restore the trust of the learners and teachers? Will the education reform bill do that and change the perception that people have about bodies marking their own homework? We heard that this morning from Professor Muir.

Thank you for that.

Agenda item 1 is consideration of a piece of subordinate legislation. The purpose of this order of council, which is being considered under the negative procedure, is to specify Scotland’s Rural College as a higher education institution competent to grant degrees, diplomas, certificates and other academic awards or distinctions, not including those made on completion of a programme of supervised research.

If members have no comments to make, does the committee agree that it does not wish to make any recommendations on the order of council?

Members indicated agreement.

The final question of the evidence session is from Willie Rennie.

The latest official statistics show that Scotland has the lowest number of officers in at least 17 years. Meanwhile, recorded crime is rising and we are repeatedly told that Police Scotland is underresourced and overstretched. At the same time, I hear repeated reports of havoc being caused by the misuse and illegal use of e-bikes and e-scooters—I even saw an e-skateboard the other day. People in my region have reported being frightened by masked gangs using those vehicles and have detailed significant concerns for their safety, with little action being taken.

Other than the financial support that the minister has outlined, what more can the Scottish Government do to protect communities and to punish those who choose to cause trouble with those illegal vehicles?

To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide further details of what it is doing to ensure that Police Scotland has enough officers to deal with antisocial behaviour resulting from the illegal use of e-bikes and e-scooters. (S6O-03730)

I thank the Deputy First Minister for her response. The change that has taken place in the leadership of who is responsible for the bill will help us to work together more closely around stage 2, I hope.

The committee also highlighted concerns from stakeholders that the consultation that will be required on the draft strategy is, potentially, limited, and that the results of that consultation should be published. We have had some clarification from the Scottish Government that it will ensure full public consultation on the strategy. Although we recognise the Scottish Government’s assurances that that was always the intention, we welcome the Scottish Government’s commitment to considering what further measures can be taken to ensure that that is clearer and is in the bill.

The Scottish Government’s response to our report set out that, recently, it has been standard practice for Scottish Government policy documents on Gaelic to be issued for public consultation; for those to be accompanied by public meetings with a range of community and interest groups, as well as ministerial meetings; that, following that process, an independent analysis is prepared for Scottish ministers; and that the results of the consultation, and the analysis, are published. The committee welcomes that reassurance. If that is how consultation on the national strategy will be treated, we welcome that as well.

I turn to Scots. The committee acknowledges that almost half the population of Scotland report having some Scots language skills. However, the formality of the infrastructure for Scots is much less advanced than it is for Gaelic.

The committee heard evidence that declaring official status for Scots was

“a mammoth step forward”—[Official Report, Education, Children and Young People Committee, 1 May 2024; c 31.]

and important in and of itself. However, we also heard that more support and resource were required. For instance, in its report, the committee noted that, in the absence of a Scots language board—although we are not saying that there needs to be a Scots language board—the Scottish Government is relying on Scots organisations to engage on the Scots strategy, standards and guidance.

The committee further noted that, given resource constraints, those organisations may not have the capacity to engage in such processes without affecting their day-to-day activities. They are small organisations. We heard that, for example, responding to multiple consultations on standards and guidance is resource heavy and intense. Although the organisations stressed the need for more resource, both Scots and Gaelic organisations are concerned that, based on the costings in the financial memorandum, any increase in resource for Scots would be at the expense of Gaelic.

The committee welcomes the Scottish Government’s commitment, in its response, to reflect on measures that could be considered in relation to that. The committee also welcomes the Scottish Government's commitment to try to reduce the burden on Scots organisations by considering whether it can, where possible, consolidate consultations.

The committee also heard concerns that the current definition of Scots in the bill lacks the nuance that is required to encompass the various regional variations of Scots. The committee believes that, if the purpose of official status is to give recognition to Scots in all its forms, there must be a much more explicit reference to all those forms, and the bill should set that out much more clearly.

The committee notes that the Scottish Government’s response says that it took its lead from the speaker community for Scots, that being the overall umbrella term within which all forms and regional varieties are recognised and respected. I stress that many stakeholders who provided evidence to the committee did not consider the bill to be sufficiently clear regarding its intended inclusiveness.

I reiterate that the Education, Children and Young People Committee supports the general principles of the bill. However, much more clarity is required on how the provisions in the bill will be used and how they will be supplemented by other policy and budgetary decisions to achieve the bill’s aims.

I am pleased that the Deputy First Minister shared additional information ahead of the debate today. As we made clear in our report, we expect more detail and clarity, as well as further costings prior to stage 2 proceedings.

For the avoidance of doubt, I confirm that I will be speaking in English this afternoon, so members will not need their headsets.

I am delighted to be speaking on behalf of the Education, Children and Young People Committee. I thank my colleagues for their diligent work on the bill so far, and I thank all the people and organisations who provided evidence, either in person or by responding to our call for views. We are also grateful to the Delegated Powers and Law Reform Committee and the Finance and Public Administration Committee for their work to scrutinise the bill and for sharing their conclusions and recommendations timeously so that we could reflect on them when considering our report.

As our report makes clear, the committee supports the general principles of the bill, and its aim

“to provide further support for Scotland’s indigenous languages, Gaelic and Scots.”

However, we believe that the bill would have limited effect in its current form. Although stakeholders told us of the symbolic value of declaring those languages to be official, particularly in relation to Scots, witnesses also highlighted the long-standing challenges around funding for Scots and Gaelic. Many cited Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s budget as an example. It has remained largely stable for the past 17 years, rising from £4.4 million in 2006-07 to £5.1 million in 2024-25. Had it kept pace with inflation, the annual budget would now be around £7.5 million. The Bòrd stated that, as a result, it is constrained in the support that it can give to community and other projects. In its most recent funding cycle, for example, it could fund—or part fund—only 39 per cent of the projects that had applied.

Witnesses stated that, without more resources, the aspiration of the bill would be undermined. The limited costings set out in the financial memorandum did nothing to allay those concerns. On its own, symbolism will not be sufficient to address the challenges—particularly for Gaelic, which is in a perilous position. It requires support to ensure an increase in both the number of speakers and the fluency of their language skills.

On fluency, the committee noted that the evidence highlighted the desire for speakers to have more “functional fluency” in Gaelic as an outcome of Gaelic-medium education—GME, as we will probably hear it referred to throughout the afternoon. That is, that speakers should be able to use the language in everyday situations. The committee therefore recommended

“that the Scottish Government include this as one of the identifiable outcomes within the strategy and to develop a consistent national measure for this.”

The committee was also struck by the repeated requests, from organisations and individuals alike, for much more clarity in the bill, whether in relation to the content of the strategies, standards and guidance that will be pursuant to the bill, its associated costs or indeed what an area of linguistic significance might look like within local authorities in which there are proportionately fewer Gaelic speakers. Many questions are still to be answered.

The committee therefore notes that the response from the Scottish Government included illustrative examples of the kinds of measures that could be included in the standards and guidance. Those were helpful. They encompassed a wide range of areas, including publications, community development, online materials and impact assessments. In relation to education, the areas that were covered include GME access, provision, teacher requirements and catchments. In her opening remarks, the Deputy First Minister made reference to some of the GME provisions.

Many highlighted the potential for the bill to provide more coherent policy in support of both languages and associated dialects, with national strategies being authored by the Scottish Government. Although education is critical, it is hoped that such coherence will ensure that areas such as housing, infrastructure and economic policy are also considered when taking steps to support communities. Such steps could, in turn, support those languages to thrive.

In its response to our stage 1 report, the Scottish Government has said that it is

“keen to explore the extent to which infrastructural issues can be included in standards and strategy”,

and the committee looks forward to hearing more about the potential for those to feature in Gaelic language plans in areas of linguistic significance.

Just to give some background on the “wholly new costs”, the intention is that, right now, money is being spent on Gaelic provision, and the costs would not be “wholly new”; they would be in addition to the costing. I hope that that helps.

The independent report was scathing. It stated that ERCC

“did not put survivors first”.

That shocking revelation forced the chief executive officer to resign over the weekend, but she had previously said that survivors should be challenged on their prejudices. ERCC’s culture of ostracising those with gender critical beliefs was enabled by Nicola Sturgeon, who described concerns about gender self-identification as “not valid”. Does the minister agree that it is time for the leadership of ERCC to step down and, indeed, to allow for an entire change of culture, so should the chief executive of Rape Crisis Scotland, who championed the very policies that have been at the centre of this entire caustic situation?