Guidance on the British Sign Language (BSL) (Wales) Bill Consultation

On 8 November 2024, Mark Isherwood MS launched a consultation on his proposal for a British Sign Language (BSL) (Wales) Bill, inviting people to give their views on the policy objectives of the proposed law. The consultation is scheduled to close on 17 January 2025.

This consultation now seeks views on the proposed Bill and on the policy objectives contained within it.

View the Consultation Letter (403KB PDF)

View the written Consultation Document (349KB PDF)

Download Word Document to prepare your answers (743KB Docx)

Responses in BSL can be uploaded by using the online response form. The form will first ask for details about you as a respondent, which is needed for all responses in whatever format or language they are provided. Once those initial details have been provided, you can choose to respond in BSL, English or Welsh. If you select BSL, you will be able to submit a video securely to a folder within the online system, and you will receive instructions on how to do this.

A consultation on proposals for legislation to make provision to promote and facilitate the use of BSL and its tactile forms in Wales; improve access to education, health and public services in BSL and, support the removal of barriers that exist for deaf people and their families in education, health, public services, support services and in the workplace.

The legislation will also work towards ensuring that people who use BSL are not treated less favourably than those who speak Welsh or English, and to establish a BSL Commissioner with the same powers as other minority language Commissioners.

Action required: Responses by 17 January 2025

This document is available in BSL, Welsh and English.

Overview: This consultation seeks views on the policy objectives and proposals for the British Sign Language (BSL) (Wales) Bill.

How to respond:. Responses should be emailed or posted using the details below, or by using the online response form, by 17 January 2025 at the latest. BSL responses to the consultation can be uploaded by following the instructions on the consultation page.

How your information will be used: Information you provide may be used by Members of the Senedd (including the Member of the Senedd in charge of the Bill), support staff and Senedd Commission staff, during the development of a Member Bill, promotion of the intended effect of the Bill, and subsequent scrutiny of the Bill.

For full details about how your information will be used please see the Senedd’s Member Bill Consultations - Privacy Notice.

Further information about the Member Bill process can be found in the Guide to the Member Bill Process.

For further information, please contact:

Gareth Rogers, Scrutiny Support Clerk
Senedd Cymru
Ty Hywel
Cardiff Bay
CF99 1SN

email: MemberBills@senedd.wales

The draft legislation has been brought forward in accordance with the rules set out in the Standing Orders of the Senedd that enable non-government Senedd Members to propose new laws for Wales.

In April 2024, I was successful in a ballot held under the Senedd’s Standing Order 26.87 for the right to bring forward a proposal for a new law. The proposal that I put forward was for a British Sign Language (BSL) (Wales) Bill. Under the Standing Orders, I then developed my proposal further and published an Explanatory Memorandum setting out the policy objectives and the main aims of the proposal in further detail.

On 19 June 2024 a ‘leave to proceed’ debate was held, and the Senedd agreed that I could introduce a Bill, within 13 months of the date of that debate, to give effect to the proposal selected in the earlier ballot, and as set out in the published Explanatory Memorandum.

This consultation now seeks views on the proposed Bill and on the policy objectives it seeks to achieve. Respondents do not have to answer all of the questions, but it would assist in our continued development of the Bill if as much detail as possible could be provided in any response.

1. The proposed British Sign Language (BSL) (Wales) Bill seeks to make provision to promote and facilitate the use of BSL and its tactile forms in Wales; improve access to education, health and public services in BSL and, support the removal of barriers that exist for deaf people and their families in education, health, public services, support services and in the workplace.

2. The Bill would also work towards ensuring that people who use BSL are not treated less favourably than those who speak Welsh or English, and will ensure that deaf communities have a voice in the design and delivery of services to ensure they meet their needs.

3. The UK and Scotland both have their own legislation in relation to BSL. The proposed BSL (Wales) Bill will make provisions specifically for Wales.

4. The main aims of the Bill are to:

• support the removal of barriers that currently exist for deaf people and their families across Wales in education, health, public services, support services and in the workplace;
• ensure that people who use BSL are not treated less favourably than those who speak Welsh or English;
• provide deaf communities with a voice in the design and delivery of services they use to ensure they meet their needs;
• establish a BSL Commissioner with the same powers as other minority language Commissioners;
• place a reporting duty on the proposed Commissioner, Welsh Government and public bodies.

5. Further information on the proposal is contained in the outline Explanatory Memorandum, published in April 2024.

6. Whilst the UK’s British Sign Language Act 2022 has been welcomed, its provisions only apply to the UK Government.

7. The Act places a duty on the UK Secretary of State to report on the promotion and facilitation of the use of BSL by UK Government departments, and to issue guidance more generally about the promotion and facilitation of the use of BSL. However, these duties do not apply to matters that are the responsibility of the Welsh Government in Wales such as Health, Social Care and Education. It does not therefore meet the needs of BSL users/signers and the wider Deaf community in Wales.

8. The Bill will place a duty on the Welsh Government to prepare and publish an annual BSL report describing what Welsh Government departments have done to promote the use of BSL.

9. The Bill will also place a duty on other public bodies to report on their progress in promoting and facilitating BSL through the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 (WFGA) reporting cycle. Ensuring that BSL is fed into the WFGA cycle would embed BSL into existing policy and legal frameworks within Wales. This would ensure cost-effective resource sharing by leveraging existing structures to create a more equitable society for BSL users/signers in Wales in the long term.

10. The Deaf community often faces significant barriers to communication, leading to social isolation, limited employment opportunities, and reduced access to essential services. Whilst the Welsh Government recognises BSL as a language in its own right, there are insufficient resources available across the UK for the 87,000 individuals that use BSL as their first language.

11. The Children’s Commissioner for Wales has previously identified that there is a lack of support available to ensure that family members can use BSL, with a lack of communication skills, placing an unnecessary and unfair barrier between BSL users/signers and their families. It has been estimated that 90% of deaf children are born to hearing parents with no previous experience of deafness, thus ’learning that their child is deaf can be an emotional and confusing time for parents and carers.

12. Deafness is not a learning difficulty, but deaf children are being disadvantaged by the continuing inequity in outcome. The National Deaf Children’s Society has noted that The Additional Learning Needs Code states that deaf children and young people, alongside those who are blind or sight impaired, are “more likely to have Additional Learning Needs by virtue of the fact the impairment is likely to prevent or hinder them from making use of educational or training facilities and is likely to call for Additional Learning Provision”.

13. Deaf learners generally have a lower educational attainment compared to hearing children. Deaf children are around 26% less likely to achieve A*-C grades in the core subjects of English, Welsh language, Maths and Science than their hearing peers.

14. Furthermore, the attainment gap between deaf children and their hearing peers at Key Stage 2 is approximately 6.9%. Statistics also show that 86% of deaf children are achieving the Foundation Phase Indicator compared with 96% of hearing children.

15. Evidence also suggested that children with inadequate access to any form of language access may experience language deprivation. This has serious life-long consequences for deaf children’s language, emotional and cognitive development and their wellbeing. Currently there is no national programme of early years BSL provision for deaf children in the UK.

16. Many deaf BSL users/signers have a lower reading comprehension age than the general population as a result of linguistic exclusion, and can face social exclusion as a direct result of this, which can adversely affect employment, education, and healthcare.

17. Establishing a BSL Commissioner in Wales with the same powers as other minority language Commissioners would show a significant message of support to the BSL using/signing community.

18. Deaf BSL users/signers and deaf-led organisations continue to report significant challenges in employment, healthcare, and education due to a lack of BSL access. The formulation of BSL standards would ensure that clear communication guidelines are distributed and complied with across Welsh public bodies and services, and impose an obligation to promote and facilitate BSL.

19. The nature and status of the Commissioner will be further developed in collaboration with stakeholders, including the Welsh Government, as the Bill progresses. The initial expectations of the Commissioner would be to:

• formulate BSL standards;
• establish a BSL advisory panel;
• place a statutory obligation to produce reports every 5 years on the position of BSL during that period;
• to provide guidance and a process for public bodies to promote and facilitate BSL in their respective domains;
• establish a procedure for the investigation of complaints.

BSL Advisory Panel

20. It is proposed that a BSL Advisory Panel would be made up of Welsh BSL users/signers who understand the issues faced by deaf BSL users/signers in Wales and including the various regional variations that exist. The panel would also be able to provide clear advice to the BSL Commissioner regarding policy, and to provide guidance for Welsh public services on how to engage with BSL users/signers and ensure they are involved in their design and delivery.

Produce reports every 5 years on the position of BSL in that period

21. The proposed Commissioner will be expected to set standards, policy and guidance for public services across Wales. Reporting would allow progress to be tracked, benchmarking trends over a longer term which in turn can feed into a long-term strategy. It could inform policy decisions and ensure transparency and accountability, in turn fostering good relations with BSL users/signers in Wales.

Establish a procedure for the investigation of complaints

22. There are currently limited avenues for BSL users/signers to make complaints in Wales, particularly as complaints processes are usually in English or Welsh, therefore, BSL users/signers can encounter considerable challenges.

23. Currently, BSL users/signers in Wales encounter considerable administrative and legal obstacles in accessing public services. For example, they may attend medical appointments where a BSL/English/Welsh Interpreter has not been booked. This appears to be a frequent occurrence not just in health settings, but across the full range of public services, as highlighted by the British Deaf Association’s (BDA) Audit of the Welsh Government for British Sign Language Charter 2022.

24. Compounding this lack of access, the way in which services are delivered often goes unchallenged as deaf users/signers in Wales are not able to access the enforcement and complaints mechanisms in place. Establishing a BSL complaints procedure should address issues in respect of BSL provision in public services. This will promote accountability and decrease the possibility of public bodies being sued for negligence. The ability to foster complaints processes in BSL will also ensure higher citizen satisfaction and the achievement of long term wellbeing objectives.

25. In October 2018 calls were made at the North Wales 'Lend Me Your Ears 2018' conference for BSL legislation in Wales.

26. During the Fifth and Sixth Senedd, I tabled a Members’ Legislative Proposal (MLP) to gauge the levels of support from Senedd Members for a BSL Bill in Wales that would make provision to encourage the use of, and improve access to education and services in BSL. These were debated on 24 February 2021 and 7 December 2022.The Senedd voted in favour of my proposals on both occasions.

27. RNID Cymru stated that the policy objectives of the proposed Bill are positive and go beyond the UK British Sign Language Act 2022 by including a commitment to produce reports every 5 years, which will provide valuable insight into the progress of implementing the Bill.

28. Although the Welsh Government commissioned the BDA to develop a new BSL Charter for Wales, the BDA told me that my “planned BSL Bill is an enormous step forward”. Adding that a common theme emerging from the Welsh Deaf community is a desire:

• for more Welsh deaf leadership in BSL service delivery;
• for BSL services to be delivered by deaf BSL users/signers themselves;
• for support to enable deaf-led professional planning and budget setting on BSL issues.

29.  In addition, I have received support for the proposed Bill’s overall principles and policy objectives from a number of individuals and organisations.

30. All responses to this consultation will be recorded as they are received and will be analysed following the end of the consultation period. A report on the responses will be produced and published alongside the draft Bill.

View the Consultation Letter (403KB PDF)

View the written Consultation Document (349KB PDF)

Download Word Document to prepare your answers (743KB Docx)

Responses in BSL should be submitted by using the online form which contains specific guidance on this process.