On 4 February, the Scottish Government produced its official response to the literature working group’s report.

Among many other points, the group recommended that the Government should encourage publishers to publish writing in Scots and create a separate imprint or publishing house for literature in Scots (recommendation 17).

The Government’s response to recommendation 17 includes one or two encouraging points but does not commit it to much.

In relation to Scots publishing, the Minister for Culture and External Affairs points out that Creative Scotland funded the Itchy Coo imprint. That project finishes this year, and she has asked Creative Scotland to explore the possibilities of putting something in Itchy Coo’s place.

In addition, the minister says that recommendation 17 must be considered along with the recommendations in the report of the ministerial working group on the Scots language — in particular, what it says about Creative Scotland’s funding of literature, writers and publishing.

According to the Government’s response, Creative Scotland is developing a clear policy on the Scots language. However, the minister makes it plain that, at the end of the day, it’s for Creative Scotland to decide on how it distributes its funding in accordance with the arm’s length principle.

Read the Government's whole response here.