Over £35 million announced to help promote Gaelic
Deputy First Minister Kate Forbes said £35.7 million would be invested into initiatives to promote the language in 2025-26, alongside the introduction of the proposed Scottish Languages Bill.
Ahead of a visit to Stornoway as she marked one year as Scotland's first Gaelic Secretary, Forbes said: 'The Scottish Government recognises that urgent action is needed to grow the Gaelic language in communities where it is traditionally spoken.'
The Scottish Languages Bill — which is still awaiting its third reading in the Scottish Parliament — aims to strengthen support for Gaelic and Scots by requiring national language strategies, enhancing education provisions, setting standards for public authorities and recognising areas of linguistic significance.
READ MORE: John Swinney pledges to give Scotland 'option of independence under my leadership'
Alongside this multi-million pound investment, additional funding has been allocated to Gaelic projects in the Hebrides.
MG Alba (The Gaelic Media Service) will receive a grant of £110,000 to modernise studios used by BBC Alba whilst a Stornoway Gaelic cultural centre, An Taigh Ceilidh (The Ceilidh House), will receive £10,000 to purchase musical instruments and renovate the space.
Forbes added: 'This investment will support Gaelic community events in Stornoway and ensure that Gaelic broadcasters can continue to develop high-quality programmes.
'This follows the success of BBC Alba's crime thriller series An t-Eilean (The Island).'
The investments have been made available through the 2024-25 Gaelic Capital Fund allocations.
Independent research showed MG Alba supports more than 300 jobs in Scotland, including 160 across the Scottish islands.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Western Telegraph
25 minutes ago
- Western Telegraph
Fund Winter Fuel Payments with MP expenses cut says petition
The petition was started by Yvonne Keegan, who calls for the benefit to be reinstated: "I know first hand the importance of Winter Fuel Payment - it's a lifeline to pensioners during the harsh winter months. Their heating bills can skyrocket, and they end up struggling, trying desperately to keep themselves warm. "Meanwhile, our politicians are living comfortably with expenses that would be considered extravagant by most standards. We believe that our politicians – who have a stable income, can afford to pay their heating bills and do not need taxpayer-funded expenses to support this aspect of their lifestyle." Once a petition reaches 10,000 signatures, the Government responds, and if 100,000 people sign, a debate in Parliament is considered. This petition currently has 110,421 signatures. Signatures can still be added here. How much do MPs get paid? MPs' basic salary rose 2.8% to £93,904 from April, after Parliament's expenses watchdog linked it to wider proposals for the public sector. They can also claim expenses including: Office expenses Office running costs Staffing costs Travel for staff Centrally purchased stationery Postage costs Central IT costs Communications allowance They also receive allowances towards having somewhere to live in London and in their constituency, and travelling between Parliament and their constituency. MPs can claim their utility bills, including gas, electricity, other fuel and water bills, on expenses at a single property, either in London or their constituency. This is only available to those who aren't MPs in London, or don't occupy 'grace and favour' accommodation in London. There is no upper limit on how much MPs can claim back on heating and fuel costs. Which pensioners will receive Winter Fuel payments after the changes? The Government has said more pensioners will receive winter fuel payments, but payments will not be universal. Chancellor Rachel Reeves told reporters that 'more people will get winter fuel payment this winter', adding that further details will be announced 'as soon as we possibly can'. She said: 'People should be in no doubt that the means test will increase and more people will get winter fuel payment this winter.' My instant response to Winter Fuel Payment news & key message to the Chancellor (I heard while walking to the office, so pls forgive the fact it was done there and then for speed) — Martin Lewis (@MartinSLewis) June 4, 2025 Pensions minister Torsten Bell told MPs that, while more pensioners will be eligible, there is no prospect of returning to universal winter fuel payments. Speaking to the Work and Pensions Committee, Mr Bell said: 'Directly on your question of is there any prospect of a universal winter fuel payment, the answer is no, the principle I think most people, 95% of people, agree, that it's not a good idea that we have a system paying a few hundreds of pounds to millionaires, and so we're not going to be continuing with that. 'But we will be looking at making more pensioners eligible.' (Image: House of Commons/UK Parliament/PA Wire) The decision to means-test the previously universal payment was one of the first announcements by Chancellor Rachel Reeves after Labour's landslide election victory last year, and it has been widely blamed for the party's collapse in support. The Government has insisted the policy was necessary to help stabilise the public finances, allowing the improvements in the economic picture which Sir Keir said could result in the partial reversal of the measure. Pension Credit is currently the primary benefit by which pensioners can receive the winter fuel payment. The credit tops up incomes for poorer pensioners and acts as a gateway to additional support, including the winter fuel payment. Recommended reading: What were the cuts to winter fuel payments, and who currently receives them? On July 29 2024, the Government announced that from winter 2024, winter fuel payments would be dependent on receiving another means-tested benefit, as part of measures to fill a 'black hole' in the public finances. This meant the number of pensioners receiving the payment was reduced by around 10 million, from 11.4 million to 1.5 million. Asked what groups who are currently missing out on winter fuel payments he would like to include again, if possible, Mr Bell told the committee: 'We are committed to the principle that there should be some means-testing and that those on the highest incomes shouldn't be receiving winter fuel payments in the context of wider decisions we have to make – and fairness is an important part of that. 'You can then take from that that my priority is those who are on lower incomes but have missed out.'
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
How Barlinnie prisoners are tackling transport poverty in Glasgow
St Paul's Youth Forum (SPYF) has opened a new bike shop called SPYF On Bikes at Hogganfield Loch, between Stepps and Blackhill. Paul Sweeney MSP (Image: Supplied) The organisation's work includes distributing free bikes across Glasgow, offering repairs, teaching cycle safety, and encouraging inclusive cycling through the use of adaptive bikes. All profits are reinvested into the area through SPYF's work which focuses on cycling, education, food and connection. The charity also offers a range of youth programmes and helps to tackle food insecurity by supporting community growing and cooking. Ivan McKee at the launch of the bike shop (Image: Supplied) Neil Young, chief executive officer of St Paul's Youth Forum, said: "At SPYF we are passionate about supporting communities to flourish and the launch of SPYF On Bikes and Beyond Bars Cargo is a really exciting point in furthering our mission to alleviate transport poverty in Blackhill and make it easy for everyone to choose to cycle." As well as the shop, the charity also launched a new initiative called Beyond Bars Cargo. In a partnership with HMP Barlinnie, donated bikes will be dismantled and rebuilt by prison residents into high-quality cargo bikes. Van Raam Chat bike (Image: Supplied) The new bikes will then be sold and all profits will be used to support the St Paul's Youth Forum. Ivan McKee MSP, Minister for Public Finance in the Scottish Government, opened the shop. He said: "It's hugely encouraging to see the success of On Bikes. "St Paul's Youth Forum already do some fabulous work in the community, the On Bikes project is a great example of a Social Enterprise - not only providing bikes to the community to help keep young people active it also offers training opportunities and raises funds to support St Paul's other great initiatives."
Glasgow Times
an hour ago
- Glasgow Times
First Bus to change timetables for services across Glasgow
The new timetables will affect 25 routes across Greater Glasgow and Lanarkshire starting from Sunday, June 15, as part of the company's efforts to improve punctuality and reliability using artificial intelligence. AI software has already delivered an average punctuality improvement of 8.5 per cent across more than 60 routes. Read more: £1 million project to test AI's effectiveness in Scottish NHS First Bus believes that further updates using the technology will create an even better service for its customers. Chris Coleman, head of network for First Bus in Scotland, said: "This is a significant package of improvements for our customers across Lanarkshire and Glasgow. "We want to provide a service that is reliable, consistent and, most importantly, on time. "Congestion throughout Greater Glasgow has increased greatly in recent years and this has had a hugely negative impact on bus services in the city. "We recognise the importance of building timetables that fit with the current live road conditions, so our customers know when their bus will arrive. "These adjustments we are making to the timetables will achieve that while allowing us to serve as many people as possible." AI-driven technology, combined with First Bus' network planning expertise, is being used to create timetables that better reflect real-world conditions, including traffic and congestion. Among the route changes, services 18 and 21 will be updated. Alternate service 18 buses will now travel from East Kilbride bus station to Gardenhall under the new 18A route. As a result, service 21 will now operate only between East Kilbride bus station and Cochrane Street in Glasgow city centre. In addition, service 201 has been extended from Hairmyres Hospital to Lidl on Eaglesham Road and the new Hairmyres railway station. Other services with additional journeys include the 226, 263, 266, X4, and X11. Further routes affected by the updates include the 2, 3, 6, 6A, 8, 11, 16, 18, 18A, 21, 77, 81, 90, 201, 226, 240, 241, 242, 255, 263, 266, 267, X4, X11, and U1. Read more: Glasgow workers hail first-of-a-kind celebration at bus depot First Bus aim to update physical timetable displays at stops as soon as possible. However, due to the scale of the changes, the company is encouraging passengers to use the First Bus app for the latest timetable information and live bus tracking. Full details of the updated timetables are available on the First Bus website.
