Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:

To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, if she will make an assessment of the potential (a) merits of including in the forthcoming Broadcasting White Paper statutory provisions for the creation of a Gaelic language media service with Public Service Broadcaster status and (b) economic and social benefits of such a service for Gaelic speaking communities.

The UK Government has a strong record of demonstrating its commitment to minority language broadcasting to ensure that our broadcasting sector serves all audiences of the UK nations and regions.

Minority language broadcasting has an important role to play in the UK’s broadcasting ecology. It provides an opportunity for audiences - such as the Gaelic speaking community - to access content in a language familiar to them, and is a vital means of cultural expression.

The Government has been undertaking a strategic review of public service broadcasting and will set out conclusions in due course.