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Literature Review: Experiences of the Scottish social security system among people for whom English is a second language

This literature review, commissioned by the Scottish Commission on Social Security and produced by The Lines Between, examines the experiences of people for whom English is a second language in navigating the Scottish social security system.

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Contents

Document Cover
Executive Summary
Acknowledgements
1. Introduction
2. Prevalent languages spoken in Scotland
3. Experiences of applying for social security for people whose first language is not English
4. Parts of the social security system people find difficult
5. Needs, rights and expectations of Gaelic speakers relevant to interactions with the Scottish social security system
6. Extent to which social security charter expectations are being met
7. Evidence gaps
8. Conclusion
Annex A: Continued Reading
Annex B: Country of Birth of people aged 3 and over in Scotland
Annex C: Main home languages of pupils

5. Needs, rights and expectations of Gaelic speakers relevant to interactions with the Scottish social security system

5.1 Introduction

This chapter considers literature on the needs, rights and expectations of Gaelic speakers within the Scottish social security system. It outlines the statutory framework which governs and promotes the use of Gaelic in Scotland, alongside research on public attitudes towards Gaelic and its social and cultural significance. It also considers how Gaelic provision is currently embedded within public services, drawing on local authority language plans and a comparison with Welsh language provision. Finally, it examines current arrangements for Gaelic within Social Security Scotland’s services, highlighting a gap in research on Gaelic speakers lived experiences in accessing social security.

5.2 Scottish Government policy and values

Gaelic speakers’ interactions with the Scottish social security system are shaped by a policy framework which recognises Gaelic as an official language of Scotland and places responsibilities on public bodies to support and promote its use. The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005 (the “2005 Act”) established Gaelic as an official language. This framework has been further emphasised by the Scottish Languages Act 2025 (the “2025” Act), which confers official language status upon Gaelic and enhances the duties of public authorities to support, facilitate, and promote its use.

This national framework for the growth of Gaelic is also broadly supported by the Scottish population. The Scottish Social Attitudes Survey (2022) reported that the number of Scots who can speak some Gaelic has doubled in the past decade.¹ It also found that over half (56%) of those surveyed would like to see an increased number of Gaelic speakers in Scotland. In addition, 55% of those surveyed also believe that all children in Scotland should be taught Gaelic as a school subject. Despite these positive findings, Bòrd na Gàidhlig reports that the strength of Gaelic use in key island and Northwest Gaelic communities continues to decline, with language marginalisation affecting these communities.²

Under the 2005 Act, the Scottish Government has committed to supporting the Gaelic language under several key principles.³ Firstly, that Gaelic is given “equal respect to the English language”, where included as part of operations and services. Secondly that the government has an “Active Offer” of Gaelic services to employees and the public, raising awareness of the services and encouraging use of them. Finally, it has committed to the “mainstreaming” of the Gaelic language, ensuring that opportunities to use Gaelic are normalised and that Gaelic is used more often, by more people and in a wider range of situations.

5.3 The social and cultural significance of Gaelic

Existing research on Gaelic in Scotland largely focuses on public attitudes, cultural value and the broader social significance of the language, rather than on its use within everyday public service interactions. The Scottish Social Attitudes Survey found that 79% of those surveyed believed that Gaelic was important to Scotland’s heritage and 31% felt it was important to their own cultural heritage.⁴ The survey also found that 56% felt they would like there to be more Gaelic speakers in 50 years’ time, an increase from 46% in 2012.

Scottish Social Attitudes Survey findings are echoed by research indicating members of Glasgow’s Gaelic community wish to see more young people developing their use of the language, and greater promotion of Gaelic in the city.⁵ In this study, a majority reported regular attendance at Gaelic events in Glasgow, either weekly (22%) or periodically throughout the year (46%).

Beyond this broad assessment of attitudes, there is further research on the wider impact of Gaelic on members of the Scottish public, with Gaelic speakers reporting moderate or major positive impacts of Gaelic on various aspects of wellbeing, including national and local pride, sense of identity, individual mental health and wellbeing, and happiness.⁶ ⁷ Preserving and maintaining the Gaelic language has been found to be ideologically and emotionally important to communities.⁸

“Members of other minority communities such as the LGBTQ+ and BAME communities describe feeling more accepted in Gaelic environments and, for those who have moved to Scotland, being a part of the Gaelic community has given them an increased feeling of ‘Scottishness’ and ‘belonging’.”¹⁷: 26

Studies have also explored the views of Gaelic speakers on measures to promote and support the use of Gaelic. This research has largely focused on the overarching cultural and policy discourse, rather than with lived, daily experiences of Gaelic use, such as access to and use of public services. For example, a survey of Glasgow’s Gaelic community found consistent interest in promoting Gaelic through increased visible Gaelic signage, Gaelic television, hospitality sites featuring Gaelic, traditional music events, online learning resources, and a dedicated physical space for Gaelic events.¹⁹ Increased exposure to the Gaelic language, for example, in childhood or through broadcasting, is also positively associated with more supportive attitudes.²⁰ ²¹

5.4 Provision for Gaelic in Scottish public services

Historically, Gaelic has been bound up with stigma and associated with socio-economic disadvantage and Gaelic speakers still remain concerned about an “hostile public policy environment” and “institutional disregard” for Gaelic as described by some in the literature.²²

The responsibility for overseeing the use of Gaelic across the public sector and promoting Gaelic language, education and culture was given to Bòrd na Gàidhlig, created under the 2005 Act. Further expansion of the role of Bòrd na Gàidhlig took place under the Scottish Languages Act (2025), strengthening their remit for monitoring compliance and supporting public bodies. This has, in turn, increased expectations that public bodies integrate Gaelic provision more consistently within their service delivery.

The 2005 Act requires Bòrd na Gàidhlig to submit a National Gaelic Language Plan, conferring responsibility upon several authorities, organisations and communities to meet its aims and targets. The 2023-2028 National Gaelic Language Plan identifies priorities for increasing the use and learning of Gaelic in the work of public authorities, including creating their own Gaelic Language Plans and increasing Gaelic Visibility and Signage.²³

Exploring Gaelic language plans across various local authorities gives a sense of the variation in provision in public services. For example, Glasgow City Council’s Gaelic Language Plan includes promotional measures for Gaelic, such as bilingual logos, increased use of Gaelic in arts and culture, and bilingual news releases on Gaelic matters.²⁴ It also outlines targets of increased communication in Gaelic with the public, including written communication. Aberdeenshire Council’s 2023 Gaelic Language Plan commits to ensuring that Gaelic services are made available to employees and the public and that those services are of an “equal standard and quality as those that we provide in English”.²⁵ It also commits to welcoming communication from the public in Gaelic, both in writing and on the phone.

5.4.1 Research on the experiences of Welsh speakers

Use of the Welsh language in public services provides an interesting point of comparison with the Scottish Government’s approach to Gaelic. Wales previously operated under the Welsh Language Act 1993 which gave Welsh and English language equal status in Welsh public life. This measure placed a duty on public sector organisations to prepare a Welsh Language Scheme, setting out how they would provide services in Welsh. More recently, the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011, gave the Welsh language official status, creating statutory language standards with which public bodies must comply. This is enforceable by the Welsh Language Commissioner. In Wales, citizens have a legal right to receive many public services in Welsh and public bodies must proactively offer Welsh language services.

While Welsh social security provisions have not been devolved, interactions between Welsh clients and the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) are covered by a Welsh Language Scheme, under the Welsh Language Act 1993. This means that phone lines, written correspondence, and forms are systematically available in Welsh and the DWP is under a statutory duty to treat the Welsh and English languages equally when providing a service to the public.²⁶

There is also a much stronger research base examining the lived experience of Welsh speakers using public services compared to Scotland. Research by the Welsh Language Commissioner, based on service experience surveys across multiple public bodies, reports higher satisfaction where Welsh is available proactively (rather than reactively) and consistently; it documents poorer experiences where users must request it or switch to English mid-interaction. Survey findings have also shown that proactive offers of Welsh are associated with higher confidence in public bodies.²⁷ Not proactively offering Welsh language services has been found to be a barrier to the wider use of Welsh.²⁸

In other user-centred research, the choice to use the Welsh language has been framed as an issue of dignity and respect.²⁹ Being addressed in Welsh is experienced as recognition and legitimacy of identity, particularly in health, local authority and frontline public services.³⁰ Welsh-speaking young people have been found to be extremely proud of their language and are keen to use it more in their everyday lives.³¹

Aligned with international studies that illustrate the importance of culture-linguistic congruity, other Welsh-based studies have linked Welsh language provision to emotional wellbeing, particularly in public services such as health.³² ³³ ³⁴ ³⁵ Qualitative evidence has shown that Welsh speakers feel more comfortable and experience improved communication when health services are delivered in Welsh, particularly in primary care contexts.³⁶

5.4.2 Gaelic and Social Security Scotland

The Scottish Government Gaelic Language Plan (2022) prescribes that Social Security Scotland will engage with Bòrd na Gàidhlig to prepare a Gaelic Language plan.³⁷ The Social Security Scotland language plan, however, has not yet been published, and so there is not currently a published framework or formalised set of targets for how it should actively offer and give equal respect to Gaelic in their practice. Public bodies with a Gaelic language plan that operate in a generally similar way to Social Security Scotland, such as being a national organisation and engaging regularly with members of the public include Police Scotland and Skills Development Scotland. Plans of local public bodies may also contain relevant information such as Glasgow City Council and NHS Highland.

The Scottish social security system is based on the principles of dignity, fairness and respect. These principles are particularly salient for Gaelic speakers, whose language might be closely associated with cultural, political, social and geographic identity and wellbeing.³⁸ ³⁹ Previously mentioned research on Welsh service users has shown that a proactive offering of Welsh language services is associated with dignity and respect.⁴⁰ ⁴¹

Some provisions for Gaelic use in client interactions with Social Security Scotland are evident, with the language given equivalent treatment to other minority languages. For example, Social Security Scotland provides all its benefits factsheets in Gaelic translation, and the organisation also has a bilingual logo, used on marketing materials. Like other languages, Social Security Scotland’s interpretation services include the Gaelic language, so clients can speak in Gaelic over the phone. No published evidence was identified on client satisfaction or experiences with Gaelic provision within Social Security Scotland. The available literature and FOI requests provided information on what is offered, but there is currently no data on how Gaelic speakers experience these services in practice.

5.5 Summary

Gaelic speakers’ interactions with Scottish public services are shaped by an increasingly strong statutory and policy framework, alongside widespread public support for the language and recognition of its cultural and social significance. There is still, however, the potential for further progress on embedding Gaelic across public services. Comparative evidence from Wales demonstrates how an enforceable, proactive offering of language provision is associated with experiences of dignity, wellbeing and trust in public institutions, highlighting the relative absence of equivalent statutory mechanisms in the Scottish context. While existing research on Gaelic in Scotland demonstrates the language’s importance, there is a notable lack of evidence on Gaelic speakers lived experiences of accessing public services, including social security. This gap is particularly salient given Social Security Scotland’s commitment to dignity, fairness and respect, and highlights a need for further research on the experiences of Gaelic social security clients.