Gidhealtachd Act 2017 1

MODEL
SCOTTISH PARLIAMENT

Gidhealtachd Act 2017

2017 asp 6

The Bill for this Act of the Scottish Parliament was passed by the Parliament on 20th
October 2017 and received Royal Assent on 22nd October 2017

An Act of the Scottish Parliament to legally establish the Gidhealtachd; and for connected
purposes.

1 Gidhealtachd Boundary Commission

(1) A Gidhealtachd Boundary Commission is established.
(2) The Commission will be composed of linguistics professionals and the chief
executives of all local authorities.
(3) The Commission will meet at local authority level, with the chief executive of only
the relevant local authority attending.
(4) The Commission is responsible for deciding which local authority wards are to be
considered part of the Gidhealtachd, but
(a) community council divisions may also be used if there is more than one
community council located within any particular local authority ward;
(b) if a community council division straddles a local authority ward boundary,
then the two composite parts should be considered separately;
(c) community council divisions may only be used if there is a community
council currently active in the division; and
(d) paragraph (c) does not apply to community council divisions separated for this
purpose under paragraph (b).
(5) The Commission should complete its initial report within 1 year of Royal Assent.
(6) The Commission should complete a new report every 10 years from the publication
of its previous report, or on the adoption of new local authority ward boundaries
(whichever happens earliest).

2 Criteria for inclusion of an area in the Gidhealtachd

(1) A ward in which at least 10 percent of the population are Gaelic speakers, according
to the previous census, is automatically included in the Gidhealtachd;
2 Gidhealtachd Act 2017

And a ward in which at least 5 percent, but not more than 10 percent, of the
population are Gaelic speakers, according to the previous census, must be given
priority consideration for inclusion in the Gidhealtachd by the Gidhealtachd
Boundary Commission.
(2) A ward in which there is Gaelic medium education available within the state sector
is automatically included in the Gidhealtachd.
(3) A ward which is enclaved by wards falling under subsections (1) and (2) is
automatically included in the Gidhealtachd.
(4) A ward which borders a ward falling under subsections (1) and (2) will be
considered by the Commission for inclusion in the Gidhealtachd, where
(a) factors which may be considered include
(i) local history;
(ii) the number of Gaelic speakers in the ward and adjacent wards;
(iii) the presence of Gaelic medium education,
(b) the Commission's decision under this subsection shall be subject to judicial
appeal.
(5) The Commission may choose to consider any other ward not classified by
subsections (1) to (4).

3 The Gidhealtachd
(1) Local authorities must, within areas forming part of the Gidhealtachd, promote the
Gaelic language through measures including
(a) libraries,
(b) social services,
(c) registry services, and
(d) all correspondence with the local authority.
(2) Local authorities must provide Gaelic medium education to children resident in the
Gidhealtachd, but
(a) should this not be located within the Gidhealtachd, then transport must be
provided;
(b) English medium education must also be provided.
(3) Councillors and other elected representatives of areas within the Gidhealtachd shall
be encouraged, but not required, to hold surgeries in Gaelic.
(4) The Scottish Government and its executive agencies must provide all services within
the Gidhealtachd in both Gaelic and English, with Gaelic taking priority.
(5) The National Health Service must provide all services within the Gidhealtachd in
both Gaelic and English, with Gaelic taking priority.
(6) In all cases, a grace period of 1 year following a report from the Gidhealtachd
Boundary Commission shall apply within areas newly included within the
Gidhealtachd.

4 Short title and commencement

(1) The short title of this Act is the Gidhealtachd Act 2017.
(2) This Act comes into force on the day after Royal Assent.