Chamber and committees

I mean for Scots and Gaelic. The principle applies to Scots, too, does it not? One can demonstrate academic and functional ability to read, write and speak a language, but for it to be a living language, it has to come into use across life. Therefore, the responsibility on us—indeed, on all of us—is to bring languages to life beyond the classroom. There are a lot of great initiatives for Gaelic that could be replicated in Scots—if they do not already exist in Scots—with regard to youth work and ensuring that a young person does not have to switch to English to access services, leisure facilities and so on. That is what brings fluency.

I will quantify that. If you take the Western Isles and their depopulation as a result of a lot of different drivers—

Such things are very difficult to quantify. It has been done for Gaelic through the work of Highland and Islands Enterprise on quantifying the impact of Gaelic on the economy. It could be done for Scots. I do not know whether the impact has been quantified for Scots—I am not aware that it has been. I think that the impact would be substantial in relation to the industries that I have referenced but, with respect, I am suggesting that, although it is a laudable question, it is not really the main point when it comes to pledging support and offering legal rights to communities with minority languages.

They could do a lot of that just now, but we are reflecting on the fact that more needs to be done and that work needs to be accelerated and given much greater focus. In the past year, there has been a lot more focus on the community work that Bòrd na Gàidhlig and other community groups do, and the areas of linguistic significance will allow us to think through where those key Gaelic communities are and what a network looks like. How can we support the community work more than we do right now, and what is Bòrd na Gàidhlig’s role in supporting it? Bòrd na Gàidhlig has been extremely good at doing a lot of the education work; I think that the community work should be of equal standing, but to do community work, you need to recognise the community. There needs to be an identifiable community.

Yes, because it needs to go all the way through and we need to see education as a whole. It is not sufficient to have large numbers going through primary school and then dropping off in secondary 4 and 5. We want people to go right through primary, secondary and higher or further education and to take up the opportunities to continue to study the language. However, I am also of the view that we should not get so hung up on higher and further education that we forget the other opportunities for work and apprenticeships through the language. Otherwise, the danger is that Gaelic becomes an academic language of people who have studied it to a high degree; whereas, for a living and modern language, it needs to be used in whatever capacity people find themselves.

I am very supportive of what Comhairle nan Eilean Siar has done, which has led to tangible results in terms of young people opting for Gaelic. I think that parents are voting with their feet, and that is why there is such demand across different local authority areas. Local authorities have a duty to reflect on and recognise that.

When it comes to the responsibilities on local authorities, there will be a lot of parents who want English-medium education, but they also have the right to choose an education in their language of choice. It is about getting a balance, but there are some local authority areas in which there are communities of large numbers of speakers, such as the Western Isles, the Highlands and Argyll and Bute, for which I generally favour a more Gaelic first approach.

Thank you.

Fishers are already under a weight of pressure to meet current regulations and face a significant cost in doing so, and there is the risk of conviction and so on. Clearly, we want to ensure that fishermen are doing the right thing, but what could such a fine do to a business?

Thanks very much for being here this morning.

So far, a lot of our discussion has centred on the challenges that you face just now or have been facing. I will move to the future, and there are two angles to my question. First, what is the prospect of positive change? Secondly, if there is no such prospect, what might be the long-term impact on markets when it comes to producers’ priorities and customers’ preferences?

I have asked a number of our stakeholders that first question. Is the prospect of change particularly high? In your view, does the evidence that you supply have any bearing on what the politicians and the negotiators might do when it comes to a review of the TCA? Does it just boil down to pure politics, or is there a route in? In the past few months, for example, there have been changes on horizon Europe, but a lot of things have not changed.

That is the substance of my first question. I might come back to the second question after you have answered, because there is a lot in asking two at the same time. What prospect for change is there, and how do you enact change?

I appreciate that. Your answer was a little bit more optimistic and hopeful than I was anticipating, so that is good. My second question is, how will your markets change over the coming years? The evidence in relation to salmon is just remarkable. Our briefing says that, in 2019, 53,000 tonnes of Scottish salmon was exported to the EU but that, in 2023, the volume was around 44,000 tonnes. Is that a trend?

Scottish salmon was the UK’s biggest food export in 2023, with France and the US leading global demand. The product is essential to Scotland's economy. Of course, all the sectors represented on our panel are essential to Scotland’s economy, but, if that substantial drop in salmon exports is not reversed, and if there is not a prospect of significant growth in food exports, for example, then Scotland will become poorer. That is pretty devastating. What does the future look like for your industries, and how do we ensure that our nation is not poorer because of the impacts on your industries?