Chamber and committees

My understanding is that dental nurses can take X-rays for somebody who is in pain, but it is the dentist who would interpret the X-ray and, for instance, prescribe an antibiotic. Processes can be carried out without having to go direct to a dentist.

Thanks.

So we have been able to make some progress with encouraging people who have trained elsewhere to come here, as well as encouraging our own young people to train, too, of course. Movement is happening.

I have heard about the increasing cost of the materials that are required for crowns, posts and implants, for example. For those dentists who choose to treat NHS patients, do the payments cover those increasing costs?

Good morning, minister. You mentioned alkaline hydrolysis. In preparation for today’s meeting, I had one of my team do some research on newer, more ecological and environmentally friendly methods of burial and cremation. I was surprised to learn about all the different methods that are available. Newer methods such as alkaline hydrolysis, which is also known as resomation, have a reduced carbon footprint, but funeral directors might require on-going training or knowledge and skills development in order to take up those newer, more ecological methods of burial and cremation. I would be interested to hear your thoughts on that.

The funeral directors who were consulted as part of the development of the regulations will be well aware of what they are being asked for in relation to people’s end-of-life choices.

Everything that you are describing is really complicated. You mentioned international dentists coming to work as therapists, but there is also potential to have a role that is equivalent to an advanced nurse practitioner. I am a nurse, and we can see how nursing has evolved to become quite specialist. Is providing that kind of training being looked at?

I thank Jackie Dunbar for that intervention. I was about tae come tae Oor Vyce. I know that Jackie Dunbar attended the event last Friday at the Scottish Poetry Library. Phil Reid and the team are doing a great job in promotin Scots wi the Oor Vyce organisation.

When Jackie Dunbar and I met BBC Scotland recently, we asked the leadership whether they would—or could—encourage the presenters tae yaise mair Scots. It is guid tae hear Michelle McManus and Len Pennie in the afternoons, and folk will ken Tam Cowan and Stuart Cosgrove fae their show “Off the Ball”. I thank them for enrichin us wi their fitba banter. It helps the listeners tae hear their native language normalised, which reduces discrimination and stigma. That is important.

Following the stage 1 debate on the Scottish Languages Bill, columns were scrieved fae the press defending Scots, including by Paul Kavanagh, also known as the Wee Ginger Dug, and our very own member of the Scottish Parliament Dr Alasdair Allan.

There are now so many speakers, scrievers, singers and supporters of Scots. Billy Kay, the author and broadcaster, presentit a Scots time for reflection in Parliament in April 2022, and Matthew Fitt, James Robertson and Steve Byrne are also massive contributors. The Scots Language Centre’s Michael Dempster and Laura Green are the secretariat for the cross-pairty group on the Scots leid, of which I am co-convener wi Jackie Dunbar. I thank all the Scots speakers for the work that they do.

Dr Sylvia Warnecke is senior lecturer in languages at the Open University, and she leads the Scots teacher professional learning programme, which was created in conjunction with Education Scotland. Dr Warnecke has undertaken extensive research and teaching in supporting minority and marginalised groups with their linguistic needs, including Scots and deaf communities. She does pioneering work using languages, including Scots, to support the wellbeing of people in care homes, and she upskills overseas social care staff in intercultural literacies and Scotland’s indigenous languages.

To date, the Scots teacher professional learning programme has had 152 fully funded places, which are funded by the Scottish Government, with a further 66 places for 2024-25. The schools in Dumfries and Galloway that are participating in that are Castle Douglas and Kirkcudbright primary schools, St Joseph’s college and the high school in Dumfries, and Douglas Ewart high school in Newton Stewart. The course supports teachers to include and embed Scots language and culture in their classrooms. It creates a Scotland-wide community of practice where teachers realise the transformative role of embedding Scots language and culture in the classroom. I ask the Government to continue to place high importance on continuing to fund the course to ensure continued success.

I will touch on the current research that is being conducted by PhD student Linda Bruce at the OU. Members had the opportunity to meet Linda when I held a Scots language drop-in a couple of weeks ago, and she is undertaking the first-ever study of new speakers of Scots. Her study explores the backgrounds, motivations, needs and experiences of adult learners of the Scots language. Those are new Scots—refugees and migrants—who are seeking to participate fully in Scottish society. The OU is also developing work on Scots and Gaelic community education for refugees and migrants. There is so much work going on.

Additionally, the OU’s pioneering collaboration with NHS Education for Scotland is aimed at embedding the Scots language in health and social care to enhance the experience of staff and service users. I heard directly from author and singer Susi Briggs how, when she provided music matters sessions in care homes, she witnessed increased cognitive function and better cognitive reaction when conversing or singing with older persons with dementia in their native tongue, whether that was English or Scots.

It is clear that the OU is critical in shining a light on Scots, and I thank Sylvia Warnecke and everyone involved. Feedback from one teacher who participated in the professional learning programme stated:

“I realise now—not teaching Scots in Scottish classrooms is doing a disservice to the linguistic landscape of Scotland and its people”.

There is lots more that I could say. I am lookin furrit tae the Scottish Languages Bill progressin, and I cannae wait tae hear colleagues’ contributions. I hope that together, in the chamber, we can mark the importance of the Scots leid and that the Parliament will pass a strong Scottish Languages Bill to strengthen Scots across the country.

To pick up on what Miles Briggs said about the NHS, NHS Dumfries and Galloway has introduced a Scots course for the Ugandan nurses so that they can look after patients better. Does he welcome that?

Presiding Officer, loons, quines, bairns and weans, muckle, dreich, drookit, foostie and clartie—these are unique Scots words. Scots is one of the three indigenous languages of Scotland, and I wanted to speak today to again highlight my mither tongue. I thank colleagues across the chamber for supporting the motion, which has allowed the debate to proceed the day. There are monie Scots speakers in this place. Thanks also go to Dr Sylvia Warnecke for providing the briefings ahead of the debate. I welcome Sylvia and her PhD student Linda Bruce to the gallery this evenin. I hope that they made it in time, because they might have expected the debate wis gonnae stert at 5 pm.

Scots is spoken throughout Scotland—fae Shetland tae Stranraer, in the lowlands, in our cities, in our northern isles and, of course, in the north-east, where monie folk ca their Scots variant Doric, or the Doric. In the 2022 census, 1.5 million people in Scotland reported that they can speak Scots and almost 2.5 million reported that they can speak, read, write or understand Scots. That is an increase from 2011, when 1.9 million people reported that they had some skills in Scots.

Scots is spoken on a continuum, which means that some people use more and some people use less. Some people use the occasional word or expression such as “wee”, “peedie”, “scunnert” or “sair fecht”. Some folk, such as ma faither, speak in rich, broad Scots, replete wi its ain unique pronouns, prepositions, grammar and word order. We even hear mair and mair Scots on BBC Radio Scotland. Last year, Jackie Dunbar and I met BBC Scotland’s programme leadership, and—