South Scotland SNP MSP Emma Harper has continued her work to raise awareness of the Scots Language in the Scottish Parliament through asking the Scottish Parliament’s Corporate Body (SPCB) – who are responsible for language policy across the Parliament – what action it is taking to promote and support the use of the Scots Leid across the Parliament campus.
In particular, Ms Harper – Co-Convenor of the Scots Language Cross Party Group along with Jackie Dunbar MSP – asked the Parliament to consider publishing the Executive Summaries of the Parliament’s committee reports in Scots so that those who wish to use one of Scotland’s three national languages are supported in Scotland’s National Parliament. The South Scotland MSP welcomed the commitment from the SPCB to explore this possibility and is expecting a response.
Scots is spoken by more than 1.5 million people and is one of three native languages spoken in the country today, the other two being English and Scottish Gaelic. Scots is the collective name for Scottish dialects which includes Lallans, Doric, Shetland and others. In the 2011 Scotland Census, more than 1.5 million people said they could speak Scots and another 267,000 people said they could understand Scots but not read or write the language and 1.1% of adults said they spoke Scots at home. Ms Harper is urging people to answer the Scots questions in the current census.
Commenting, Ms Harper said:
“Since my re-election to the Scottish Parliament in May last year, I have been working to promote the Scots Language both across the Scottish Parliament campus and across the country as a whole. Scots is hugely important for our history and culture and for the 1.5 million people who speak the language in Scotland, myself included. I have re-convened the Scots Language Cross Party Group and have already met with Education Scotland and Scottish Government officials who are responsible for Scots to put a renewed focus on the language. I was therefore pleased to ask the Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB), who are responsible for promoting language use across the Scottish Parliament, what action it is taking to promote Scots.
“Given that Scots is spoken by more than 1.5 million people and is one of three native languages spoken in the country today, I asked the SPCB whether it ‘wid commit tae explorin whither the executive summaries o committee reports could be publishit in Scots, as we pit a refreshed focus on Scots in oor ain national Pairlament’. I welcome the response I received and that the SPCB will explore this opportunity and write back to me in the near future.
“I also want to take the opportunity to encourage all to answer the Scots Language questions which form part of the current census. This is hugely important in collating fresh data on the number of Scots speakers we have here in Scotland and indeed on showing the importance of promoting our Scots Leid across the country – The Scots Language Centre have published a fantastic resource called Aye Can which can help answer these questions. I will continue to work with the Cross Party Group and Scottish Government as the Government progresses with its plans for a Scots Language Act.”
