Chamber and committees

The Scottish Government have two strategies that cover this area of work, the vision behind both the New Scots 2014-2017 Strategy and Scotland’s ESOL Strategy 2015-2020 is for a Scotland where refugees and migrants are able to build a new life from the day they arrive in Scotland and to realise their full potential with the support of mainstream services and where they become active members of our communities with strong social relationships: “That all Scottish residents for whom English is not a first language have the opportunity to access high quality English language provision so that they can acquire the language skills to enable them to participate in Scottish life: in the workplace, through further study, within the family, the local community, Scottish society and the economy. These language skills are central to giving people a democratic voice and supporting them to contribute to the society in which they live.” The English for Speakers of Other Languages (ESOL) strategy and the Scottish approach to ESOL is exemplary to the rest of the UK.