The British Deaf Association commented:
“We welcome the fact that the Labour Government has upheld the previous administration’s commitment to publishing annual reports on the use of BSL by relevant ministerial Departments. It would be helpful in future years to see this data contextualised against a wider annual review of implementation of the BSL Act 2022.
The Government’s report highlights that the overall number of BSL communications produced by Departments has more than doubled, rising from 76 last year to 176 in the year to 30th April 2024. We acknowledge that the figures represent the achievements of the Conservative Government, not of Sir Keir Starmer’s administration.
Nevertheless, it is disappointing to see Departments saying, for instance, that they will produce more BSL material “where there is opportunity to do so” or that they need to “improve awareness among [their] staff of how to gain access to BSL interpretation and translation”. There has been a public register of BSL/English interpreters since the 1980s, so the opportunity is always available – the question is, are Departments actively pursuing it?
The report states that the 2022 Act covers “any public announcement on policy or changes to the law, and publication of plans, strategies, policies, and consultations and responses. It also mentions press conferences, social media, and government websites.” Imagine how many English-language communications of those kinds are being produced every week by the Government.
Against that target, 176 outputs in BSL over a whole year looks like a drop in the ocean.
The BDA is much encouraged by the early signals it has received from the Labour Government. We believe that they intend to do much, much better than their predecessors and will continue to offer them our full support to achieve this ambition.”