Question reference: S6W-13323
- Asked by: Donald Cameron, MSP for Highlands and Islands, Scottish Conservative and Unionist Party
- Date lodged: 19 December 2022
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Current status: Answered by Angus Robertson on 17 January 2023
Question
To ask the Scottish Government, further to the answer to question S6W-12846 by Angus Robertson on 13 December 2022, whether it will release the number of (a) Gaelic and (b) Scots language speakers recorded in the 2022 Census early in order to inform its proposed Scottish Languages Bill.
Answer
National Records of Scotland (NRS) will release the 2022 census outputs in phases. NRS are currently consulting with data users on the outputs from Scotland's Census 2022, including plans for publishing census data. NRS are asking users to give their views on the order and sequencing of topics published.
The current working plan for the first release of Census 2022 data is to deliver rounded population estimates approximately one year from the end of the Census data collection period. Further phases of census data publications will then follow with the current intention being to release data on languages in the second phase.