Chamber and committees

Does the committee wish to welcome that the Scottish Government intends to correct the error in an amending instrument, which should come into force at the same time as this instrument?

Members indicated agreement.

Thank you very much for that—that is interesting.

All three of you spoke strongly on behalf of the rights of communities over someone just making a decision for them. That was extremely interesting, and there was a bit of unity in that.

I understand what you are saying, but do you think that the bill, as it stands, would actually create duties on public bodies to deliver Gaelic or Scots, depending on which part of the country you are in?

I will say it again. What is your opinion on the approach that the bill takes towards providing ministers with the range of powers, which they might believe that they need, to create duties on public bodies in relation to the delivery of Gaelic and Scots?

That is perfectly understandable. Thanks very much to all three of you for that.

On the back of that, a wee bit of controversy is maybe creeping in here. This has been discussed already. Should local authorities be able not have to make provision in areas where communities show little interest in Gaelic and Scots?

That is very helpful. What all three of you have said shows that you are aware of what you and the organisations have been doing over time and the success that that has had, and that it is about working out from that where you go next.

The most important thing that you have said is that it is not really based around talking at people and communities, but talking with them and bringing them together. That is useful.

My question is for all three witnesses, but I will address it to James Wylie first. Are you content with the approach that the bill takes towards providing ministers with the range of powers to create duties on public bodies in relation to the delivery of Gaelic and Scots?

I will come back to that in a wee bit—thanks very much for that.

Joanna Peteranna, do you have any thoughts on that?

I suppose that you are all the best people to talk about the lessons from the experience of Gaelic development since 2005 and 2006. How can the lessons from developing Gaelic across the country, particularly in areas where it is particularly strong, be used to help to guarantee the future development of Gaelic? Perhaps those lessons could be used for the Scots language, too. How will you use those lessons? You must have found that certain things work better than others. What do you use to get people interested and maintain the development?