Parliamentary Questions 2021
Asked by: Emma Harper, South Scotland, Scottish National Party
To ask the Scottish Government what action it is taking to promote the use of the Scots language and to further Scots language education.
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville, 2nd December 2021:
The Scottish Government has made clear its support for our indigenous languages, including Scots. It is essential that those that wish to use the Scots language are given every opportunity to use the language of their choice. For many, Scots is the language of home and community and its use in other areas of Scottish life should be encouraged.
The Scottish Government provides around £460,000 of funding to various Scots organisations and Scots projects such as the Scots Language Centre, Dictionaries of the Scots Language, Association of Scottish Literary Studies, Scots Radio and Scots Hoose to develop and promote Scots and deliver high quality Scots language learning and resources to open up the educational access to Scots for young people. In addition, the Scottish Government works alongside Education Scotland and the SQA and they have worked to standardise, promote and make the Scots language more readily available in schools.
The Scottish Government is committed to taking the forward the manifesto commitments for a new Scottish Languages Bill which takes further steps to support Gaelic, acts on the Scots language and recognises that Scotland is a multilingual society. This work is at an early stage and we intend to consult in 2022.
Asked by: Donald Cameron (Highlands and Islands)
Date lodged: 8th September 2021
To ask the Scottish Government how much it has allocated each year to the Doric Board.
Answered by Shirley-Anne Somerville, 13 September 2021:
The Scottish Government recognises the importance of the Doric Board and has provided funding to the organisation since its inception. The following table outlines these allocations;
Financial Year | Allocation |
2019-20 | £15,000 |
2020-21 | £14,700 |
2021-22 | £14,700 |
Asked by: Sharon Dowey, South Scotland, Scottish Conservative
To ask the Scottish Government whether it will provide an update on the appointment of the new makar.
Answered by Angus Robertson, 16th June 2021:
I welcome you to your place, Presiding Officer, and I congratulate Sharon Dowey on her election to the Scottish Parliament.
Jackie Kay’s tenure as the national poet for Scotland, or makar, ended in March 2021, and I would like to thank her for all her inspirational work over the past five years. I am sure that I speak on behalf of all members in all parties across the chamber in wishing her well. The process to appoint the next makar is under way and an announcement will be made once that process has reached its conclusion.