Get your priorities right rightg ...

Anger at fire service plan to use public money to promote Gaelic despite shortages of equipment and personnel

pressure. Eben Wilson, of campaign group Taxpayer Scotland, said: “When it comes to priorities, this seems wildly over the top.

“It’s not just the changeover costs but think of the meetings and future overheads of maintaining this.

“You have to wonder, if the budgets for language were given to all the Gaelic speakers in the country, would they choose to spend their taxes in this way? We doubt it.”

All public bodies and councils are required, under the 2005 Gaelic Language ( Scotland) Act, to create Gaelic Language Plans despite the fact it is spoken by fewer than 90,000 Scots. A draft plan drawn up by SFRS states that the majority of activities it plans to promote the language will be, or have already been, paid for using the fire service’s budgets. The document states SFRS plans to increase the profile and use of Gaelic in areas where 20% or more of the population “have Gaelic abilities”.

It also promises to create a positive attitude to Gaelic in the workplace through “awareness- raising and signage”.

The service will also look to increase opportunities for staff to learn Gaelic, ensure the language is increasingly visible and used in the workplace and in providing services to the public.

The service has said it is committed to supporting and encouraging staff to use their Gaelic language skills while carrying out their duties.

However, the moves come at a time when the service is under increasing financial pressure.

Last year the service said it would be forced to consider frontline cuts as it looked to address a £50 million funding gap. Now The Sunday Post can reveal the service is taking defibrillators from some areas and moving them elsewhere due to a shortage of the devices in some regions.

Chris McGlone, executive council member of the Fire Brigades Union Scotland, said a number of automated external defibrillators had been “identified for relocation”.

There will now be just one defibrillator per station whereas before some stations would have had defibrillators on several fire engines.

The fire service has argued the defibrillators being moved were “excess to requirement”.

Some 20 defibrillators will be taken from the Strathclyde area and 30 from the Grampian and Tayside areas and redistributed in the Highlands and Islands.

However, the fire service has said it will also allocate funds for