Agendas, reports and minutes

Minutes of Meeting of the Gaelic Implementation Group held in the Council Chamber, Glenurquhart Road, Inverness on Thursday 19 February 2015 at 10.30 am.

Present:

Mr D Fallows, Mr G Farlow, Mr C Fraser, Mr H Fraser, Mr J Gordon, Mr J McGillivray , Mr K MacLeod, Mr F Parr, Mrs M E Paterson, Dr A Sinclair , Ms K Stephen

Also present:

Mrs I Campbell, Mr D Millar

In attendance:

Ms C McDiarmid, Head of Policy and Reform, Chief Executive’s Service
Mr K A Murray, Gaelic Development Manager, Chief Executive’s Service
Mrs M A Macleod Mitchell, Gaelic Development Officer, Chief Executive’s Service
Ms J MacDonald, Senior Translation Officer, Chief Executive’s Service
Ms M Mulholland, Gaelic Community Learning & Development Officer, Chief Executive’s Service
Mrs M McConnell, Gaelic Resources Assistant, Chief Executive’s Service
Ms S Paterson, Community Learning and Development Officer, Chief Executive’s Service
Miss J Maclennan, Principal Administrator, Corporate Development Service
Ms F MacBain, Committee Administrator, Corporate Development Service

Also in attendance:

Miss M MacMillan, Head of Education and Learning, Bòrd na Gàidhlig
Mr J Morrison, Chief Executive, An Comunn Gàidhealach
Mr J Graham, Mod Development Manager, An Comunn Gàidhealach
Mr A Campbell, Chairperson, Inverness Mòd Local Organising Committee
Mr D McIntyre, The Market Specialists

An asterisk in the margin denotes a recommendation to the Council.  All decisions with no marking in the margin are delegated to the Group.

Business

1. Apologies for Absence

There were no Apologies for absence.

2. Declarations of Interest

There were no Declarations of Interest.

3. Good News

A list of Good News items was tabled at the meeting and, after the Chair had drawn specific attention to various issues, the Group NOTED the Good News.

Members also highlighted that a presentation on the economic and social value of Gaelic as an asset had been positively received the previous day at the Planning, Development and Infrastructure Committee.  The Committee had agreed to support the ongoing promotion of the Gaelic language as an economic and social asset through the delivery of the Council’s Gaelic Language Plan.

4. Bòrd na Gàidhlig– Presentation

Miss Mairi Macmillan, Head of Education and Learning at Bòrd na Gàidhlig undertook a presentation on national developments in Gaelic Medium Education.  Miss Macmillan outlined continuing progress and challenges associated with Gaelic Education and detailed the six Development Areas in the National Gaelic Language Plan 2012/17: Home and Early Years; Education; Communities; Workplace; Arts and Media, Heritage and Tourism; and Corpus Planning.

There had been a steep incline in Gaelic Medium Primary 1 intakes since 2011 which coincided with the introduction of the latest National Gaelic Language Plan.  Reference was also made to the 2011 Census which, although recording a gradual decline in all Gaelic speakers over the previous 30 years, reported that in the 3-24 age category the numbers had been relatively stable over the period.  Some recent national developments were noted including consultation on parental entitlement to Gaelic Medium Education (GME), Ministerial guidance on GME to be prepared by Bòrd na Gàidhlig, Education Scotland Advice on Gaelic Education and the work of the National Gaelic Education Strategy Steering Group.

During discussion, Members welcomed the developments highlighted in the presentation and made the following comments:-

• referring to the Gaelic Medium Education Bill which would imminently be presented to the Scottish Parliament, it was hoped that Gaelic could be afforded the same status as Welsh and that every effort be made to encourage the UK Government to recognise Gaelic as an economic, cultural and social asset across Scotland;
• many teachers in Highland were making huge personal commitments to undertake Ùlpan courses and, in terms of partnership working, every effort should be made to support and encourage this dedication.  In this connection, referring to the travel distances for teachers to access Gaelic tuition, it was queried whether modern technology could provide a distance learning solution to reduce or avoid the need for travel;
• when families engaged in Gaelic Medium Education moved away from small communities this significantly increased the risk for the resilience and sustainability of GME in that area.  In these circumstances, it was queried whether there was scope to develop an emergency task force or funding to support resilience where parents felt that there might be sustainability issues; and
• it was queried what arrangements might be in place to ensure that appropriately qualified candidates would be available to apply for the Head Teacher posts in the new emerging GME schools in Portree and Fort William.

The Chairman thanked Miss Macmillan for her presentation.  He also informed Members that Mr John Angus Mackay OBE was retiring as Chief Executive of Bòrd na Gàidhlig and, on behalf of the Group, he expressed appreciation to him for his helpful engagement with the Council in promoting and developing Gaelic, and GME in particular.

Thereafter the Group NOTED the Presentation.

5. Gaelic Language Plan 2012-16 – Annual Implementation Report 2014-15 for Bòrd na Gàidhlig

There had been circulated Report No GIG/1/15 dated 9 February 2015 by the Director of Care and Learning providing a draft 2014-15 Annual Implementation Report in relation to the Council’s Gaelic Language Plan 2012-16, for approval. The Report encompassed progress in implementing the five Themes in the Plan, from 1 January 2014 to 31 January 2015.  This was the second comprehensive report on implementation of all themes in the Plan and the Gaelic Development Manager drew Members’ attention to various topics.

During discussion, several Members thanked the Gaelic team for their work on the wide variety of projects, pointing out, in particular, the steady growth in the uptake of Gaelic Medium Education (GME). Specific comments were made as follows:-

• BBC Alba was a valuable resource for the promotion of the Gaelic language;
• the success of the Fèisean movement, Fèis Rois and the Celtic Media Festival was bringing Gaelic to a wider audience;
• the increasing uptake of Adult Learning was welcomed;
• it was hope that, as part of the GLP 2017-21, Memoranda of Understanding would be pursued with other minority language countries, with particular reference being made to the Basque Country;
• the Youth Convenor’s involvement was important given the importance of education to the development of Gaelic.  They had the opportunity to further promote Gaelic through the Highland Youth Parliament;
• given the success of the Gaelic Football Cup, Cuach na Cloinne, Members asked that a similar tournament for shinty be considered bearing in mind the importance of shinty to the culture of Highland;
• the high number of entries into the Creative Writing Competition was excellent relative to the total number of pupils in GME;
• the Group’s support should be communicated to the filmmakers of the three films from Highland shortlisted for the Best Community Film category at the FilmG competition. Members were also encouraged to vote for the Highland entries;
• progress on filling the Early Years Officer post was sought;
• it might be helpful for GME pupils in small rural units to form learning communities and use technology to facilitate group interactions and offer mutual support;
• the Gaelic Youth Theatre network, based at Eden Court, was a valuable resource for young people, and was spreading to other areas of the Highlands where there was adequate demand; and
• Members were reminded of a presentation given to the Group by Professor Antonella Sorace of Edinburgh University in December 2011 on the benefits of bi-lingualism for a child’s brain, particularly on their ability to learn other languages.

The Group AGREED:-

i. The Council’s 2012-16 Gaelic Language Plan Annual Implementation Report for the period 1 January 2014 to 31 January 2015; and
ii. that the Group’s support be communicated to the filmmakers of the three films from Highland shortlisted for the Best Community Film category at the FilmG competition.

6. An Comunn Gàidhealach Presentation

Mr John Morrison, Chief Executive of An Comunn Gàidhealach and Mr David MacIntyre undertook a presentation on behalf of An Comunn Gàidhealach providing an economic impact assessment of the Royal National Mod held in October 2014 in Inverness.

Over 9,000 people had attended the Mod and over £3.5m had been generated in expenditure with around £400k per day going through local tills.  This represented a Return on Investment of 25 to 1 for Inverness, and for Highland as a whole, 19 to 1.  Good use had been made of local facilities and high satisfaction levels had been achieved, Members having been provided with results relating to specific elements.  A number of downstream dividends had also been generated and which included the fact that 70% attendees had come specifically for the Mod itself and reports that 60% had indicated they would definitely return to Inverness for a holiday.  It had undoubtedly been a success but when deciding on future host areas a balance had to be achieved between the appeal of traditional venues, and their economic success, to the appeal of new destinations to Gaelic speakers and the opportunity to attract new markets.

In discussion, Members asked that their appreciation be expressed to An Comunn Gàidhealach, the Inverness Mod Local Organising Committee and the Council’s own Gaelic, Tourism, Economic Development and City Teams for the outstanding success of the Mod and its Fringe events. It was suggested that Inverness would be a suitable permanent location for the National Mod but other Members spoke against this, citing the important economic, social and cultural benefits the Mod brought to its various venues around Scotland.  Reference too was made to the expanding Local Mods given that they provided the supporting infrastructure for the National Mod.

Further comments made included the following:-

• television coverage had been beneficial to the Mod allowing many competitions, previously unscreened, to be aired;
• the Mod had enhanced the holidays of many tourists with some indicating that they would return.  Many businesses in the town centre had also benefited but it was disappointing that the Flood Prevention Work had not been completed before the Mod started;
• Mr Graham, An Comunn’s Mod Development Manager was thanked for his work on making the Fringe events such a success; and
• Mod participants were thanked and congratulated for their vital role in the event’s success which raised the profile of the Gaelic language.

The Group:-

i. NOTED the Presentation; and
ii. AGREED that the Group’s appreciation be relayed to An Comunn Gàidhealach, the Inverness Mod Local Organising Committee and the Council’s own Gaelic, Tourism, Economic Development and City Teams for all their hard work in making the Inverness Royal National Mod and Fringe such a success.

The meeting ended at 12.25 pm.