 The final item of business is members' business debate on motion 1374.2 in the name of Donald Cameron on celebrating 10 years of BBC Alba. This debate will be concluded without any questions being put, and I would ask those members who wish to speak in the debate to press the request to speak buttons. Some members have indicated that they will make their contribution in Gaelic and interpretation facilities are available. Any member can listen by inserting their headphones into the socket on the right-hand side towards the front of the console. Any member unable to hear the interpretation should press the audio button on the console and select channel 1 English. I call on Donald Cameron to open the debate for around seven minutes, please. Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. I would like to begin by thanking M.G. Alba, and in particular its chief executive, Donald Campbell, who encouraged me to celebrate this fantastic achievement in Parliament. I should also say that this debate is being streamed online by BBC Alba. It is particularly special that we should be celebrating today, because it is 10 years to the very day that BBC Alba was formed to the channel, and it was launched with a live caily from Sormorostig on Sky and a drama about Elvis. Looking round the chamber and looking at all the musical and dramatic talents, I wonder if we could match that tonight. A lot of work went in at that point to achieve the goal of a publicly funded Gaelic broadcaster, and an immense amount of work has gone on since then to take BBC Alba from strength to strength. Not being fluent in Gaelic, I won't inflict what little I do have on the chamber, but I'm sure others will not be so hesitant, and I look forward to hearing everyone's contributions. Because in BBC Alba, we have a broadcaster that has commissioned or created some 160 million pounds worth of Gaelic television content, and accounts for around half of independently produced hours for audiences in Scotland. Not only that, but one of its parents' companies, M.G. Alba, which I've mentioned, is responsible for 114 jobs in the Highlands and Islands, providing vital skilled employment in places like the Western Isles, Sky, in Venice and further afield. And in addition to this, there are multi-year contracts with eight independent production companies in a variety of genres, including the hugely successful Bannon, which is produced by Young Films on Sky. It is a remarkable achievement, considering all of this has been done with a modest annual budget in comparison to what other Celtic networks around the UK receive. They have done a lot with a little, and I will briefly return to the question of funding later. Yes, of course. Kate Forbes. Thank you. Us debates in English BBC have raged for years on a Scottish Six, for example. The Gaelic 8, which is news on BBC Alba, has been reporting regional, national and international news from the very heart of Gildam for years to an incredibly high standard with a fraction of the budget. Donald Cameron. I thank the member for that intervention. I wholeheartedly agree, and having appeared on anlard only on Monday night, it's a fantastic programme. But I would say that the outputs of BBC Alba throughout, especially its news output, is tremendous. By coincidence, I was lucky enough to spend Monday afternoon visiting the offices of BBC Alba in Stornoway, and I spoke to a number of staff members, and they said several things that struck me, and I'd like to share with the Chamber. The first thing that was obvious was that so many staff had been involved from the very start and were still there, and there appears to be incredible loyalty to the channel from its employees, which in my view is undoubtedly a good sign. Secondly, the fact that BBC Alba is not just one single homogenous organisation, but is in fact a patchwork collection of producers, editors, presenters, some of whom act as independent freelancers. Thirdly, the channel has been able to bring forward important local issues to the fore that simply do not receive enough national coverage. For example, we watched the production of a programme about the geese crisis that is affecting crofters on the yewists. It's clear that while Gaelic is a central part of what BBC Alba does, it's not just the language that it promotes, but a wider community and culture. It has obvious connections with the Gaelic-speaking world in the Highlands and Islands, but it is known to reach many more people beyond the Gaeltoch. Indeed, there are many who watch BBC Alba, who have no connection to Gaelic whatsoever. Let me give some examples. I have non-Gaelic-speaking friends who have said to me that the only way they can watch their local Shinty team is on BBC Alba. We know that, for instance, Scotland qualified for the Women's World Cup next year, BBC Alba announced on that very day a three-year deal as the home of Scottish women's football. All there is the member of the Scottish Conservative media team, not known for his love of Gaelic, it has to be said, admitting to me that the only way he was able to watch his underperforming football team was on BBC Alba due to the channel's excellent coverage of the very lowest reaches of the SPFL. That was Steven Stewart, and we'll now go to Donald Cameron. I think I'll leave that hanging. According to BBC Alba, 10 per cent of the viewers over the age of 16 in Scotland watch the channel each week, meaning that many who do not speak Gaelic are accessing its content. Whether that be its coverage of sport that I've mentioned or viewers watching with subtitles or simply checking out the original content, it is ultimately a door to Gaelic for a wider audience. The recent agreement which has secured the rights to broadcast content from CBBC and CBBs further enhances the channel's offering to younger audience. Now, while there are a lot of good things to shout about, it goes without saying there are also challenges to overcome. There is wide acceptance that the number of people watching linear TV generally is declining, particularly among younger viewers who more often than not use social media or catch-up services to view content. We all know about competition that comes from major platforms like Netflix or Amazon Prime, and then there's the ability for people to use social media platforms and make greater use of popular websites and apps like YouTube or Instagram, et cetera. All of this presents obstacles to all linear TV, but it's especially a challenge for a channel like BBC Alba. The other significant challenge which I must return to is funding, because when I spoke to the staff in Stornway on Monday, they told me that when new funding for content becomes available, hundreds of ideas are put forward, many of which are very good, but often only a small handful can actually be realised. Now, at present, the BBC does provide the channel with funding. It firstly provides additional net programme funding of £1.2 million per year, which replaces funding that the channel had received from MG Alba, and that's freed MG Alba to make extra investment in other independent parts of the channel. There is an overall BBC contribution of £10.7 million, but compared with the £74.5 million that the BBC affords to the Welsh language broadcaster S4C, or the £37.5 million that the Irish Government provides its language broadcaster, there is a stark contrast. I would say that, while the BBC does contribute a significant amount, it's important to acknowledge that support, that support, in my view, they could do more to both invest in and support BBC Alba. I will conclude on this note, Deputy Presiding Officer. Despite the fact that it is a 21st century creation working at the cutting edge of digital media, using the latest technology, etc., it's also worth thinking about BBC Alba more historically and how it fits squarely into a much more ancient Gaelic tradition. In many ways, the channel is the modern equivalent of the Seneca, the storyteller of old, who would entertain with history, song and verse, and would touch both the local and the wider world, shifting between fact and fiction, drama and real life. Just as now, BBC Alba passes on the stories, the legends, the songs, the customs, rooted in the people and on the land in which they live and work, and those people, the listeners and viewers of BBC Alba drive much of the content rather than it being opposed from above. It is a service for the whole of Scotland and a standard barrier for a language and a culture that means so much to so many here, but also across the world. So to BBC Alba, can I finish by saying, tarpalet? We now move to the open debate and speeches of four minutes, please. Ruth Maguire to be followed by Edward Mountain. Thanks to Donald Cameron for setting up this debate. According to the BBC Trust, it is BBC Alba's remed to provide a mix of programmes, including television news and weather. The channel ought to be making provision for speakers and learners of Gaelic, as well as people who might want to be learning Gaelic. The channel also ought to be a mirror and a support for culture, identity and Gaelic heritage. Since BBC Alba started broadcasting on 19 September 2008, the channel has grown and has addressed and met all these aims and objectives nowadays. It is offering six hours of programmes every day and I know for a lot of people watch it with a reach much wider than the Gaelic community. For example, many people who don't speak Gaelic watch it regularly, programmes such as daily news, Yorba drama, concerts from throughout the world and indeed sport has been a very important part of the channel. As a football fan myself, I am indeed very happy earlier this month to hear that BBC Alba was going to be home to the Scottish Women's Football giving and greatly racing the image of sport in Scotland. It is a privilege for me to speak Gaelic in our national parliament but it is also a disappointment that some of the members are still against Gaelic. This is the reason I am trying to speak some Gaelic at this debate today. It is important that everyone who is supportive of the language and our culture defends Gaelic when people are demeaning it unfairly and unreasonably. We must not remain silent. I would like if you are going to speak Gaelic. Prevention is in English because of the... They are going to take an intervention in the Gaelic but I will not let them. I have already taken out my headphones but I want to pick up on a very important point and that is people's perception of the language and perhaps the politics of recent as muddied those waters. What does the member think could be done to further improve the take-up of the language amongst young people and adults as well outside of its traditionally spoken areas including the central block? Ruth Maguire, if you can answer in Gaelic... Probably be helpful if I answered in English. I think that there is lots that everyone can do. I think that there is clear cross-party support for Gaelic. It is not owned by one political party or one bit of Scotland. We need to take that out of it. We need to take the opportunity to speak a little bit whenever we can even if we are nervous about that. In Jamie Greene's region, in the west of Scotland, there is a mountain of Gaelic activity going on. You will see through the North Ayrshire Council website there are singing classes, there are adult speaking classes, there are conversational groups in Gaelic, I would say, to get involved and lead by example. It is important that everyone who is supportive of the language and the culture that defends the language, people are demeaning it unfairly and unreasonably. We must not remain silent. I would like to offer my congratulations to everybody at BBC Alaba for making such a method, the effort they have made and are still making to strengthen Gaelic. I am looking forward to the next 10 years. Colle Edward Mountain, to be followed by Alasdair Allyn. Thank you, Presiding Officer. I would firstly like to thank my colleague Donald Cameron for bringing forward this motion celebrating the 10th anniversary of BBC Alba. Presiding Officer, if my school teachers were here today, they wouldn't be able to stop laughing at my attempts to install the value of languages in our society, especially as my school reports repeatedly stated that I should concentrate on English rather than try and master other languages that would clearly be beyond me. Looking back, I'd probably admit that I could single-handedly massacre the French language of school, and when I served in the army, I'd made a pretty good job of massacring Swahili and making it unintelligible, which is quite an achievement of sorts, giving that Swahili whilst it has verbs has no tenses. So, if I happen to make a mispreanceliation today, I don't mind taking an intervention in whatever language as long as somebody can explain to me what it is that I'm supposed to be answering, and I would love to take interventions from those members of this chamber who are far more eloquent in speaking Gaelic than I am. As we celebrate the 10th anniversary of BBC Alba, it's worth noting that 50% of Gaelic speakers live in the Highlands, and BBC Alba forms a big part of their daily lives. I am proud of the enduring contribution my party has made to the language by introducing Gaelic Television Fund nearly in 1990, and the Broadcasting Act in 1996, which further improved the funding of Gaelic Television. These two acts laid the groundwork for BBC Alba, which was launched in 2008. Now, this channel has viewed ship in excess of 60,000 speakers of the language, a testament to me to the wide appeal of the language and the programming, and the growing interest in the culture. Gaelic production forms a sizeable part of Scotland's growing TV and film industry, which, as we know, generated nearly £100 million in the past year. Production companies like the Stornoway-based MAC TV are important local employers, and that highlights how important BBC Alba is to the island's economy as a whole. And BBC Alba's sports courage has come under criticism from some who wants to see the channel focus more on arts and culture, but I don't see why audiences shouldn't get live sports in their own language. Football, Shinti and rugby draw in new audiences to the television programmes on BBC Alba and therefore should be a gateway for the language. And let's not forget that BBC Alba exists to support the learning of Gaelic and alongside Gaelic education in our primary and secondary schools and acts as an engine for the growth of the language. Presiding Officer, BBC Alba is a big success story for Gaelic language and I'm delighted to mark the channel's 10th anniversary today. Today's debate is also a reminder of the importance of the Scottish Government's target made 10 years ago to ensure that by the 2021 census the proportion of Gaelic speakers is back up to the 2001 levels at the very least, and I would support them in that. BBC Alba will be central, I believe, in achieving that target and I urge the Scottish Government to continue to support the channel and for people across Scotland to do the same. Thank you Presiding Officer. Presiding Officer, thank you very much to Mr Cameron for setting up this debate and giving Parliament an opportunity to mark the 10 years of BBC Alba. I remember 10 years ago when it was launched. I was at the official Caelic and I saw the first programme about Elvis as well. From that day, BBC Alba has grown and surpassed many milestones when the channel started on free view, for example. Nowadays, and as Mr Cameron said, nowadays I play this more and more important. This young generation has grown up without making any difference in their minds between the internet and television, and BBC Alba recognises that. It is difficult to understand in a way that BBC Alba did not exist 10 years ago. Nowadays, it is broadcasting all sorts of programmes from history, Scottish culture, world culture, children's programmes, sports programmes, news and now drama. Programmes like you are by dealing with international questions in a way that no other programme does in Scotland, in any language. At one time, BBC Alba was dealing with the same time, small lighter topics. I remember one programme which had researched prejudice against people with red hair. I was taking part in it. BBC Alba is a huge economic impact, not just in the highlands and in the islands, but throughout Scotland. Scottish Government puts in £12,000 every year, £12 million every year. It is time that BBC itself was paying more to make sure that there would be 10 hours of programmes every day, as happens in Wales, in SLC. Anyway, thanks to BBC Alba, the people of Scotland know that Gaelic is there. I do not think that that might have been very true in the days before BBC Alba. One thing that is encouraging about BBC Alba is the support across the political parties. I must say that it is appointment when one or two people in politics or in the media go against this from time to time. As I said, you will still hear people complaining from time to time. Perhaps that they saw or heard a word or two of Gaelic in their lives and how that upset them. Television has played a huge part in the decline of Gaelic. I hope now that it plays a huge part in reawakening the language. As a puppy is for life and not just for Christmas, Gaelic is not there just to be talked about in Gaelic. BBC Alba understands that. In that vein, I am certain that I will be using some Gaelic from time to time in Parliament, not just to be talking about Gaelic, as I am doing just now. You will be hearing me from time to time asking questions perhaps about health services or Brexit in Gaelic as well. Questions about funding. May BBC Alba funding, total funding, I am sure I will be raising that question about BBC and other services in Scotland, I am sure. It is important that we are using Gaelic, not just, as I said, in talking about it, but also for everything. Anyway, along with everyone else, I will say again congratulations to BBC Alba and every good wish for the future. Rhoda Grant, followed by Angus MacDonald. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. I am very happy that Donald Cameron gave us the opportunity for this debate. It gives me great pleasure to wish BBC Alba happy birthday. It feels like BBC Alba has been around forever, but 10 years is a relatively short space of time to make the impact that it has. It has been at the forefront of promoting the Gaelic language. Their carrying of sports, not just Shinti, but footballers who have heard rugby too, has promoted a much wider audience than the one that may have originally been set up to serve, but that encourages others to listen to our language and gain an interest in it. It could be argued that the coverage of Shinti has promoted that game and led to more young people becoming interested in playing. The more people who watch BBC Alba, the more that we will be interested in learning our language and keeping it alive. They have a broad range of programmes for young viewers of Patrick Post, among others, working in tandem with Gaelic medium education to help young people learn. Their news and current affairs programmes, as we have heard, are excellent. Europe was historically recognised for its journalistic content even before BBC Alba started broadcasting. For learners like me, speaking our language never goes out of date, and sadly Rhoda MacDonald does not seem to have aged at all, albeit that her hairstyle has changed a number of times over the series. The channel not only serves our Gaelic speakers, but it helps learners and promotes interest in Gaelic. Someone whose first language was Gaelic, and has now returned as a learner, BBC Alba, offers me an extra connection to the language, a way of keeping my practice between classes through a wide range of programmes. It enables learners, young and old, to have Gaelic embedded in more aspects of their life rather than confined to the classroom. I have often heard people say that it is when Gaelic becomes the language of the playground rather than the classroom, that we know that we are keeping it alive. While keeping Gaelic alive has to be the main name, there are other unforeseen benefits to the channel. It has created jobs in the media, not just for Gaelic-speaking presenters but for every skill that is required, sound film and production skills. It means that young people from the Gaelchuk now have a range of careers to choose from and the ability to stay at home to pursue them. One of the big problems in my region is depopulation, and that happens for economic reasons. People leave because there are few jobs and even fewer careers, and BBC Alba provides young people with a career to pursue that keeps them in our community and gives them choices. Our language is also important to keep our history and culture alive. The history and culture of the Highlands and Islands communities is handed down through poetry, song and storytelling. If we lose the language, we lose that aspect of our heritage. BBC Alba also promotes those traditional arts, as well as contemporary arts. What is sad is that Gaelic was much more widely spoken in the past across much of Scotland and in parts of Northern England. It has been lost from those areas and with it has been lost their culture and their heritage. BBC Alba's programming is of a really high standard and actually holds its own against English-speaking channels. They provide excellent value for money, but with more investment they could do so much more. I urge the BBC to look at a balance in funding to make sure that BBC Alba gets a fair share of the cake. As Donald Cameron said in his opening speech, when money is available, the bids to produce new and innovative programming much exceed what is available cash-wise to pay for that. We need to urge the BBC to do that. Last new year, my husband had the flu, so I was at home alone on front of the TV taking in the new year on my own. I tried a number of channels before settling down to a wonderful concert on BBC Alba, very much like a traditional Cailey rather than the forced catch you sometimes find on other channels. While recognising its worth, we also need to make sure that we support it. Duncan Ferguson wrote recently that BBC Alba had done more to promote and protect Gaelic than the Gaelic Language Act, and he may be right. However, having a Gaelic Language Act may help us to protect and promote BBC Alba, because if we take it for granted, we do so at our peril. Therefore, I am delighted to support it, and I hope that I will be wishing BBC Alba many happy returns for many years to come. Maen nhw yn gweithio eich bryd. Angus MacDonald, wrth gwrs, fe ddych chi nhw, Ffinnie. Moryn Teimlo. Rwy'n fawr i gaelu'r cyfnod gyda myfwysig, dwi'n fawr i gaelu myfwysig. Rwy'n fawr i gaelu myfwysig i gaelu'r cyfnod gyda myfwysig. Ond ychydig sefydig, iddyn nhw, gyda gwiriaeth gyda ni ar gyfer Gaelic, yn gy resonated a'r gaelic a gen i gaelic yn gwneud. Onal Cameron, yn gweithdodd pan wahanol seriadu. Fe fyddai'n gweld i gaelic yn ffraithi nhw i ddweudodd yn gaelic i gaelic ar y cwrthair i gaelic i gaelic yn gweithio i gaelic yn y cwyl. Des iddyn nhw wedi dweud o'r gweld i'n gweld i gaelic yn gweithi簽fwyl. I'm glad to say I was at the official launch reception of BBC Alaba here in Edinburgh 10 years ago, which was attended by the great and the good of the Gaelic world, the great and the good of the BBC and others. But it was a double celebration for me because in my role as the convener of the Organising Committee of the Royal National Mod, which was being held in Falkirk that year, it meant that Falkirk Mod was the first one to enjoy wall-to-wall coverage of the competitions and concerts through BBC Alaba. So, as well as the excellent coverage of the mods over the past decade, it's clear that MG Alaba through its partnership with the BBC is an incredibly important piece in our diverse cultural jigsaw. Tasked with ensuring Gaelic is accessible in our day-to-day lives through creative content, factual documentaries and drama series through broadcasting and online platforms, BBC Alaba is vital to the promotion, preservation and normalisation of the culture that is the Gaelic language lifestyle and all that comes with it. So, it gives me great pleasure to be able to celebrate the 10th anniversary of BBC Alaba here this evening. First launched 10 years ago tonight at 9pm with Oran Alaba, a special version of the song Alaba. We've all watched the channel grow, expand and diversify, changing with the times and making use of emerging platforms for content to be shared far and wide. 10 years ago at the channel launch, MG Alaba's commissioning strategy consisted of long-term volume deal commissions, which bring the channel low-cost, high-volume, original outage and allows the independent sector to enjoy the security of guaranteed funding over a number of years, thus allowing for investment and long-term planning, gaining favourable deals with their own suppliers and providing employee security, and also seasonal commissioning rounds bringing higher production value bespoke programming to the channel, of which they had three tendering rounds annually at the launch of the channel. 10 years on, MG Alaba still have the volume deals providing 89% of the channel's original funded outage for 75% of the programme budget. Sadly, MG Alaba cannot now accommodate three commissioning rounds per annum due to financial constraints. The currently have two seasonal commissioning rounds at a lower level of funding individually than the original three, and worryingly, these two rounds are in jeopardy due to the lack of assurance they have regarding their annual core funding each year. These commissioning rounds are heavily dependent on the £1 million pressure funding that was received over the past three years, a sum that, again worryingly, is not guaranteed and thus causes uncertainty and insecurity in the independent sector and with the supply of programming. As a result, we see a channel that has a 74% repeat level being in danger of losing not only its core audience but the wider Scottish audience without a supply of high-quality originations. Another issue of concern, Presiding Officer, is the plan to launch a new Scottish channel. Clearly, we all welcome a new Scottish channel, but the head of BBC Scotland intimated that this would bring a benefit of up to 100 hours of new programming to BBC Alaba as a direct result of the new channel. I am not sure how far down that road BBC Scotland is in that respect, but there is one thing that is sure. We need to safeguard BBC Alaba's current appreciation and consumption across the Scottish-wide audience and ensure that the two channels work in partnership with each other and not in competition. I genuinely hope that the arrival of the new channel is not to the detriment of BBC Alaba, and I hope that we can get an assurance in that regard from the BBC. Presiding Officer, time, as always, prevents Amy from raising other salient points, but suffice to say that let's celebrate all the BBC Alaba and BBC Alaba have done for Gaelic and Sport in Scotland over the past 10 years, and let's all ensure that we protect it over the next 10 years and beyond one time. The last of the open debate contributions is from John Finnie. I have a little guy like us, but as usual I have to speak in English. First thing I have to do is congratulate my colleague Donald Cameron. Donald talked about BBC Alaba going from strength to strength, and I think that that is very evident from the contributions that we have heard. I think that it has got a very tangible evidence of that with a new TV gallery in Inverness. Again, Donald Cameron talked about online the fact that that entire production could take place from there. I think that it is a sign of the progress that has been made. Of course, news is very important, so I also welcome the weekend bulletins on Radio Nang Gael. As others have, I very much welcome the new jobs, particularly the new journalism jobs in Inverness, the six jobs. However, as has been said, BBC Alaba operates throughout the Gael tract, and its jobs and its spread are welcome. It has always been very outward looking, as I hope that the Highlands has always seen to be. There are many things to be positive about the revamp of the children's output, particularly the utilisation of the CBBCs and CBBs brands, which I think is again about the normalising the use of the language in connection with everything that goes on. Jobs creation, as others are alluded to, is not just about the creative jobs that are very positive contributions from the technicians and other supports. That is all part of the wider progress that has been made and the role that BBC Alaba has played in moving things forward. As the motion also talks about joint working, I think that that is very important, with all its finite resources. Collaboration is very important. I want to perhaps, and others have touched on this and I do not wish to appear to be negative, but I think that it is important to talk about the BBC Charter Review and the significant support that was indicated in that during the public consultation for Gaelic. The proposer of the motion talked about the modest budget. Others would describe it as an inequitable outcome to that Charter Review. S4C are guaranteed 74.5 million per annum until 2022. I would like to quote from an email that I got from a constituent this afternoon that said, and I quote here, "...expecting BBC Alaba to survive, never mind thrive and something like 8.2 million brackets from the BBC. Well it has become clear that the new BBC Scotland is to have four times that budget to broadcast for fewer hours has highlighted the further inequity of the situation." So there is a call that this constituent puts in. I am sure that I am not the only recipient of that email in it. It is a call to supporters of BBC Alaba and that is to renew the call for a minimum of 10 hours new programme per week, calling the BBC and politicians to commit to this and the resources that are required to enable BBC Alaba to fulfil its role of offering a diverse range of high-quality programmes in Gaelic. On a positive note, people have talked about the dynamic nature of the media industry and people have talked about not making exclusively culture. Who knows? Yorfa is often cited as an excellent example of very strong investigative journalism and not just within Scotland but the broad outlook that it takes. Culture, of course, might be in years to come that people will view DIY ladoni as being a pivotal and for those of you who don't do DIY, like me, it's entertaining on the list to watch it and I commend it to you. I also commend, of course, the sports coverage. I think that it's very important that we don't politicise the language. Language is a very powerful role to play and we know that with our sisters and brothers in Wales. Catalonia indeed is the best country and there's mention made in the motion about the Celtic language and the recent partnership agreement. I think that that could contribute to positive progress and respect, for instance, for the Irish language in the north of Ireland. So there's many positive things to say. I'm sure that the next decade will be the same. Thank you. I now call in Ben Macpherson to respond to the debate for around seven minutes, please, minister. Thank you very much, Presiding Officer. Thank you all for what I think has been an excellent debate and to Donald Cameron for bringing forward today's motion. It is a pleasure to have the opportunity this evening to express the Scottish Government's gratitude to all involved in BBC Alaba on its 10th birthday. First of all, I would like to thank BBC Alaba producers, presenters and commissioners and, of course, the BBC and the Gaelic Media Mg Alaba, who, between them, run their channel and for the creative work that they have produced over the last decade, which has made the channel such a resounding success, as others have emphasised. Labry Sonagut. BBC Alaba has been consistently inventive and continues to be so, with its exciting autumn schedule and new developments in comedy and international productions. The Scottish Government is a strong supporter of Scotland's Indigenous languages. We recognise their cultural, economic and social value and want the relevant bodies to work together as closely as possible to support and promote their use. Though there is still work to do to reverse the decline in the overall numbers of Gaelic speakers, it is encouraging that the rate of decline nationally does seem to be slowing down. I think of this in terms of a point that was raised earlier about growth in urban areas. I think of Tarnabarka, the primary school in my constituency, whose role and numbers are growing from strength to strength. The Gaelic education strategy of this Government in helping to promote uptake at school age. The growth and the slowing down of decline suggest that our targeted investment as a Government is paying off and that the strategy of introducing children to the language as early as possible to make it an integral part of their life, their schooling and the way they communicate is working. BBC Alaba is an important part of that process in children's programming, in its digital content and in providing a common frame of reference for the Gaelic community in its widest sense. In ten short years, BBC Alaba has become an accepted part of the Scottish broadcasting landscape, and a celebrated part with strong audience approval ratings and audience reach of over 10 per cent nationally and over 65 per cent among users of Gaelic. That is, as others have said, good for the economy as well, because commissioning programmes in 2016 to 2017 from 20 different production companies as that illustrates. It is especially important in economically fragile areas. Indeed, of the 280 full-time equivalent jobs MG Alaba has been estimated to have generated across Scotland in 2016-17, over 100 of those were in island communities. The channel has also demonstrated that its innovative partnership model with MG Alaba and the BBC can work successfully. In that, I believe, the channel is showing the way to other broadcasters who are now realising the mutual benefit of partnership models. As our new dedicated screen agency, Screen Scotland, gets up and running, one of its priorities is to promote a more co-ordinated approach to resources and more co-operation between broadcasters in the interests of audiences. The Scottish Government will continue to support the channel, although broadcasting is reserved, and we will continue to support it so that the channel is able to meet the challenges of competition and funding in the years ahead. Competition will be stronger than ever. All broadcasters face a challenge from new media giants such as Netflix, as the BBC director-general Lord Hall reminded us earlier this week that British TV, including the BBC, needs a more level playing field to be able to compete against global broadcasters. Closer to home, as others have mentioned, there is a newly invigorated STV and, from next February, a new BBC Scotland channel. We will urge the BBC to stand by the promise held out in its proposal for the new channel to co-commission 100 hours of programming with BBC Alaba. As others have mentioned, funding is another key issue. We in the Scottish Government remain committed to funding MG Alaba, with £12.8 million from the devolved settlement, and with £8 million from the BBC and a further £1.2 million announced earlier this year, replacing the £1 million that was withdrawn by the UK Government, MG Alaba funding totals approximately £22 million. We, as a Scottish Government, were delighted to announce in February a £500,000 grant to develop the studio facilities at Seaforth Road in Stornoway to improve facilities for programme making and offer training opportunities for young people interested in the media. Public funding of the Welsh channel S4C is approximately £120 million, which, following a recent UK Government review of S4C, is expected to almost all come through the licence fee settlement. The role of the BBC is therefore critical. We have argued that the disparity in funding between Welsh and Gaelic TV is disproportionate, and we urge the UK Government and the BBC to take action to ensure that Gaelic TV audiences get a fair deal. Gaelic is one of the UK's not just Scotland's indigenous languages, and as such, it is reasonable to expect support from the UK Government. We believe that there is scope for the BBC to spend more on Gaelic on grounds of equity. Even allowing for its recent enhanced commitments, the BBC still spends considerably less here than it raises through the licence fee. We urge all to get involved—the UK Government, the BBC and the Communications Regulator Ofcom—to work together to ensure that BBC Alaba gets a fair share of the licence fee. We are also asking BBC Alaba to be regulated through a service licence of its own, as we have argued that the BBC in Scotland generally should, so that the specific needs of audiences and the sector here can be identified and considered. The needs and circumstances of audiences in the various UK nations differ, and their circumstances should be addressed individually. Overall, we will continue to do what we can to stimulate the TV sector in Scotland and argue for a fairer deal from the UK. We are grateful to MG Alaba and the BBC for the unique and highly valuable contribution that is made through BBC Alaba to the Scottish media and Gaelic and Scottish culture. We will continue to support it in years to come and look forward to continuing to work with those partners to make the next 10 years as successful as the last, so that in 10 years' time we can have another debate like we have this evening with even more strength to BBC Alaba. That concludes the debate, and this meeting is closed.