Agendas, reports and minutes

A meeting of the Gaelic Committee will take place VIRTUALLY on Thursday, 16 September 2021 at 10.30am. 

Webcast Notice: This meeting will be filmed and broadcast over the Internet on the Highland Council website and will be archived and available for viewing for 12 months thereafter.

You are invited to attend the meeting and a note of the business to be considered is attached.    

Yours faithfully

Stewart Fraser
Head of Corporate Governance

1. Apologies for Absence

2. Declarations of Interest

Members are asked to consider whether they have an interest to declare in relation to any item on the agenda for this meeting.  Any Member making a declaration of interest should indicate whether it is a financial or non-financial interest and include some information on the nature of the interest.   Advice may be sought from Officers prior to the meeting taking place.

3. Royal National Mòd 2021

There is circulated Report No. G/12/21 dated 8 September 2021 by the Executive Chief Officer Performance and Governance.

The Committee is invited to note:-

i.   the current programme;
ii.  that contingency arrangements are in place to adjust between virtual and in-person events; 
iii. that any underspend in the planned budget arising from a reduction in the in-person content of the event will be set against the budget feed of £80,000 approved by Corporate Resources Committee, resulting in a reduced cost to the Council; and
iv.  the arrangements to ensure proper governance and scrutiny of the Council’s financial contribution to the event. 

4. Progress against Gaelic Language Plan 3

There is circulated Report No. G/13/21 dated 3 September 2021 by the Executive Chief Officer Performance and Governance.

The Committee is invited to:-

i.  consider the progress made in both monitoring and implementing GLP3 on a quarterly basis utilising the (PRMS) support delivery of GLP3; and
ii. note the progress and challenges regarding the implementation of some enabling actions in the Plan. Challenges are largely due to the pandemic, which has impacted some projected project implementation and completion dates, however, the Gaelic Team have and continue to endeavour to adapt to an on-line or a blended approach to deliver the enabling actions.

5. Bilingual Signs Policy

There is circulated Report No. G/14/21 dated 18 August 2021 by the Executive Chief Officer Performance and Governance.

The Committee is invited to:-

i.  note the work that has been undertaken in relation to the bilingual policy refresh; and
ii. consider and agree the proposed changes. 

6. Statutory Consultation - Gaelic Medium Catchment Proposals for Glenurquhart Primary School

There is circulated Report No. G/15/21 dated 6 September 2021 by the Executive Chief Officer Performance and Governance.

The Committee is invited to discuss the Proposal and note that the Education Committee will be advised of Members’ views prior to taking its decision.

7. Gaelic and Gàidhlig Medium Education Update

There is circulated Report No. G/16/21 dated 6 September 2021 by the Executive Chief Officer Performance and Governance.

The Committee is invited to:-

i.   note the contents of the paper and recognise the significant improvement trends in attainment and presentation numbers for Gàidhlig and Gaelic in S4, S5 and S6;
ii.  congratulate the young people, their families and the school staff for such significant improvement in Gàidhlig SQA attainment in the Highlands in August 2021; and
iii. agree that a report will be brought back to the Gaelic Committee highlighting best practice in strategies being deployed to further improve work in our secondary schools..

8. Inverness Castle Project

There is circulated Report No. G/17/21 dated 6 September 2021 by the Executive Chief Officer Performance and Governance.

The Committee is invited to consider the report.