• We demand that Highland Council Ward 10 Eilean a' Cheò is designated as an Area of Linguistic Significance (ALS) under Criterion 1 of the Scottish Languages Act.
  
  
• We do not accept the Council's proposal to consult on making a single local authority wide ALS designation is a fair or reasonable basis for consultation. 
  
  
• We believe that consultation should be held with communities across the Highland area, with every area considered for ALS designation. 
  
  
• We believe this consultation must be done on a proposal for Ward or ASG (Associated School Group) area ALS designations to ensure maximum potential for differential policy in areas where more can be done to support the language and its community of speakers.
  
  
• ALS designation must be coordinated with Community Language Plans to ensure maximum interface between policy, service provision and the Gaelic communities. 

From the Statutory Guidance on designation:

The Gaelic Language (Scotland) Act 2005, as amended, outlines four steps involved in proposals by local authorities to designate an “Area of Linguistic Significance”:

a. Consideration of areas for designation, based on specified criteria 
b. Consideration of proposal for designation 
c. Consultation with relevant stakeholders and publicising proposal 
d. Submission of proposal for designation to the Scottish Ministers 

5. An area must be considered for designation as an Area of Linguistic 
Significance if the proportion of people with Gaelic language skills amounts to 20% or more of the area’s overall population. 

21. This guidance has underlined the potential advantages of using electoral wards as a relevant geographical unit for designation purposes.  Having 
provided an explanation of the designation criteria above, this section provides a summary of the designation options open to local authorities, along with relevant examples. It continues with the recommendation of electoral wards as the initial area for local authorities to focus on when considering the designation of an Area of Linguistic Significance while still recognising the benefits and possibilities in other approaches.

29. If local authorities conclude that either the local authority area as a whole, or a constituent part thereof, contains a population of which 20% or more have Gaelic skills, they must formally consider whether they will propose designation of the area(s) in question as Areas of Linguistic Significance to the Scottish Ministers.