Costs associated with Gaelic language signage and branding: FOI release

Information requested

You asked how much it has cost Scottish tax payers to brand/paint police cars, ambulances, road signs, random station names and anything else which is also signed in the Gaelic languages.

Response

Road Signage

With regard to road signage, local road signage is the responsibility of Scotland's local authorities. Therefore, the Scottish Government does not hold information on the associated costs.

Transport Scotland, an agency of the Scottish Government, is responsible for signage on trunk roads. However, Transport Scotland does not have the information you have asked for. While its records include overall costs for traffic signs, these are not held in a way that differentiates by sign type or language. As a result, it is not possible to identify the costs associated specifically with Gaelic language.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested for this part of your request.

Railways Stations

In relation to the signage in Gaelic language present at railway stations in Scotland, it may be helpful to explain that the introduction of Gaelic signage at ScotRail stations was delivered as part of the overall ScotRail re-branding programme and you can find more information related to this in a previously published response to a similar request: Bi-lingual road and rail signs: EIR release - gov.scot.

Although some stations have been opened or refurbished since that publication and include Gaelic signage, Transport Scotland does not hold information which would identify the specific costs associated with Gaelic translations.

ScotRail and Network Rail may hold information on signage costs at individual stations. You may wish to contact these organisations directly.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested for this part of your request.

Emergency Vehicles - Fire, Ambulance and Police

The Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested, as costs relating to Gaelic signage on emergency vehicles are not incurred by the Scottish Government.

Gaelic signage costs for police vehicles are incurred by Police Scotland. You may wish to submit a request via their Freedom of Information process - Freedom of Information - Police Scotland. Gaelic signage costs for ambulances are incurred by the Scottish Ambulance Service. You may wish to submit a request via their Freedom of Information process - Making an FOI Request.

Gaelic signage costs for Fire and Rescue vehicles are incurred by the Scottish Fire and Rescue Service. You may wish to submit a request via their Freedom of Information process - Information requests | Scottish Fire and Rescue Service.

The Scottish Government does not hold any further information regarding Gaelic signage or branding costs for these services.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested for this part of your request.

Other Gaelic Signage

In relation to your request for “anything else which is also signed in Gaelic”, this part of your request is broad and open to interpretation. For the purposes of this response, we have interpreted it as referring to signage on public buildings and private properties.

The Scottish Government does not hold information on the costs associated with translating or installing Gaelic signage in these contexts. Responsibility for such signage, including any associated costs, rests with the relevant public body or, in the case of private property, the individual owner or business. If you are seeking information about signage produced by specific public bodies (for example, those listed in the Scottish Government’s directory of national public bodies), you may wish to contact those organisations directly - https://www.gov.scot/publications/national-public-bodiesdirectory/pages/executive-non-departmental-public-bodies/.

More generally, the Scottish Government does not hold information on funds spent to replace signage in order to include Gaelic. Signage commissioned by the Scottish Government and its agencies is routinely produced bilingually (Gaelic and English) at the point of creation, rather than through retrospective replacement. Where funding is provided to other public bodies, any expenditure relating to Gaelic signage is a matter for those bodies.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not hold the information you have requested for this part of your request.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.