The viability of communities and the Gaelic language is being hit by depopulation of the Outer Hebrides fuelled partly by poor transport links and ferry services, Scottish Government advisers have warned.
Bòrd na Gàidhlig, the Scottish Government body with responsibility for promoting Gaelic development has raised concerns about a 14% drop in children in the islands over an 11 year period and called for improvements including better use of island community impact assessments on decision-making.
It also said that communities should have a greater say in the development of lifeline island ferry timetables so they are "more attuned to the needs of individuals and businesses in the communities that are served".
Concerns over the Outer Hebrides, the area with the strongest concentration of those with Gaelic skills, comes as data shows that between the 2011 and 2022 censuses the population fell from around 27,700 people to 26,200 - a drop of more than 5%. Over the same period, the Scottish population grew by 2.7%.
But the decline in the number of young people is even more stark.
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The number of children and teenagers up to the age of 14 has slumped by around 14% over the period, compared to less than three per cent in Scotland and almost 10% in the Highlands and Islands.
The number of 15 to 24-year-olds has dropped by more than a quarter compared to a 8% drop in Scotland and 15% in the Highlands and Islands.
The agency has warned ministers: "These negative trends will have affected the sustainability of particular communities in the Outer Hebrides and with this the sustainability of the Gaelic language."
It highlighted an analysis from the Short Life Working Group on Economic and Social Opportunities for Gaelic convened by the Scottish Government which states "many of the challenges facing language use in key Gaelic communities are related to population attraction and retention.
"Without infrastructure such as adequate housing and reliable transport links, populations cannot be grown or retained. The viability of those communities is threatened and, with that, Gaelic as a community language”.
It said that while the west coast islands account for around 1% of the Scottish population aged 3 years or above it also accounted for more one quarter (26%) of Scottish residents with some Gaelic skills. "Therefore, the Gaelic language is not only important to these islands, but these islands’ sustainability is essential to the continued sustainability and growth of the language," the board said.
The Outer Hebrides or Western Isles is an island chain off the west coast of mainland Scotland which takes in a host of islands including Lewis and Harris, South Uist, North Uist, Benbecula, Barra, Scalpay and Great Bernera.
The board's message to ministers has come as Transport Scotland has sought views from the public about the future of Clyde and Hebrides ferry services run by Scottish Government-controlled operator CalMac.
The Scottish Government has a preferred option of providing a direct public contract to CalMac to run the ageing ferry fleet and lifeline island services without going through a competitive tendering process and closing the door on opening routes up to private operators.
It comes after the ferry operator received some £10.5m in poor performance fines in the six-and-a-half years since CalMac took the franchise – nearly eight times more than in its first nine years in charge of the west coast fleet.
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CalMac's current £975m eight-year Clyde and Hebrides Ferry Services contract expires in September 2024.
It had previously won the contract for six years in 2007 – after ministers were forced to tender for routes to satisfy European competition rules.
Ministers were also alerted to a communities report into the future of ferries put to the Scottish Government's Transport Scotland agency which said that "almost every island had examples of people leaving directly attributed to poor ferry services" adding that the the "wider impact of ferry services on people's lives is often overlooked".
Bòrd na Gàidhlig, which was designated as the body responsible for securing the status of the Gaelic language as an official language of Scotland commanding equal respect to the English language said in a new analysis that it wanted to highlight the great importance of ferries as "part of the infrastructure that supports the sustainability of Gaelic communities and the Gaelic language".
But it said that the reliability and resilience of services have "generally been lacking in recent years with negative impacts for the communities and businesses that use the ferries".
It said the issue "reflects the age, condition, and number of vessels in the fleet along with inadequate capacity at certain times to cope with demand."
The board told ministers that ferry services were crucial to the sustainability of the islands and areas served in terms of people's personal and business travel and the movement of businesses’ customers and goods.
"Modern, sustainable, reliable ferry services with sufficient capacity and affordable fares are of utmost importance in sustaining the island communities of Gaelic speakers, and thus in sustaining and growing the Gaelic language," it said.
The communities report said that ferries played a "crucial part" in young people’s and their family’s lives” and play “a significant part in their decisions whether to continue to live on an island”. It said that "cost is important to young people and…the under 22 benefit for bus travel not including ferries is seen as unfair and discriminatory".
It found that “the major factor preventing islanders travelling is the lack of reliability and capacity”.
Highlands and Islands Enterprise research into the attitudes and aspirations of people aged between 15 and 30, which revealed the importance of transport as a factor affecting the region’s attractiveness.
An area report for the Outer Hebrides states that: “Despite Road Equivalent Tariff (RET) ferry fares…. the cost of off-island travel remains a significant issue”.
RET, which was rolled out to west coast ferry routes in October, 2015, sets fares to the equivalent cost for travelling the distance by road.
Affordable, reliable, and well-scheduled transport was cited by more than half as a factor required to make the Highlands and Islands an attractive place to live, work and study.
"The availability and quality of transport - and notably ferry services - are a very important factor in young people’s decision whether to remain in their community. In the Outer Hebrides and other Areas of Linguistic Significance the decisions made by young people will significantly affect the prospects for the Gaelic language," the board said.
"Young people in the islands and in the traditional communities think of the ferries the same as mainland people think of the buses."
It said that the greatest impact on Gaelic from future ferry provision could be in what the draft Scottish Languages Bill terms Areas of Linguistic Significance - communities where at least 20% of its population has Gaelic language skills.
Video: Exploring the Outer Hebrides.
At the 2011 Census just over half of people aged 16-24 in the Outer Hebrides had some Gaelic skills. That compared to a Scottish average of just 2%.
"Loss of population in these areas - and young people in particular - due to inadequate ferry provision could have a significant negative impact on the language," the board warned.
It raised concerns about the use of island communities impact assessments which are an integral part of the Scottish Government’s ground-breaking Islands Act, which was made law in 2018. Public bodies are tasked by law to consider the specific needs of islands when developing policies and strategies.
The board said that a number of ICIAs had been produced that make no mention of Gaelic at all.
Scottish Government guidance states that "with reference to your policies, strategies and services could you make clear in your ICIA what the impact is on the Gaelic language in island communities, if any, compared to other areas (including other island communities)”.
The board said it was "essential that the ICIA for the new ferries contract takes sufficient account of the potential impacts on the Gaelic language".
It also said that ICIAs should be carried out on the basis of individual communities "rather than simply the whole area served by the CalMac ferry network".
"This will allow the identification of specific issues for individual communities and highlight how the impacts could vary between the islands...," it said.
A Scottish Government spokesman said: “We recognise the significant part Gaelic plays in Scotland’s culture and we want to support the language to thrive and grow. The Scottish Languages Bill contains a range of provisions to further support Gaelic, including support for the designation of Areas of Linguistic Significance to support the language in communities with significant numbers of Gaelic speakers or with a particular connection to Gaelic.
“Rural and island communities are key to our recently published plan to address depopulation, which sets out how we will work with people living and working in these communities and who know best how to address local challenges. The Scottish Government’s Rural Delivery Plan, which is set to be published by the end of this parliamentary term, will set out how all parts of the Scottish Government will deliver for Scotland’s rural and island communities.
“We’ve committed £242.5 million to the four City Region and Growth Deals across the Highlands and Islands to drive growth and economic recovery, invest in local people, projects and priorities in partnership with the local authorities and UK Government.
“We recognise the impact that delays and disruption have regrettably had on our island communities and are committed to investing in our ferry services. Delivering six new major vessels to serve Scotland’s ferry network by 2026 is a priority for this government. We have invested more than £2 billion in our ferry services since 2007 and we have outlined plans to invest around £700 million in a five year plan to improve ferry infrastructure."
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