Lilian Greenwood, the Labour Member of Parliament for Nottingham South, has been elected chair of the All Party Parliamentary Group on Deafness.
The group was previously led by Stephen Lloyd MP before he lost his seat in the recent elections.
Lilian said: “I’m delighted to have been elected to this role and look forward to leading the group in an ambitious programme of work.
“Many government policies are having an impact on people who are deaf or have a hearing loss. We need to make sure they are levelling the playing field, not making it harder for people to succeed.”
Lilian was elected at the first meeting of the group since the general election. Three vice chairs were also elected: the Lord Shipley OBE (Liberal Democrat), Neil Carmichael MP (Conservative) and Ian Mearns MP (Labour).
Despite several of its members losing their seat at the election, the Group is now larger, with 17 MPs and five Lords.
The Group also discussed its work programme for the year. Top of the list is to support Action on Hearing Loss’ Subtitle It!campaign to bring subtitles to on demand television and film. The Group will also
- support efforts to make sure hearing aids for all are provided by the NHS;
- support the Hearing Screening for Life campaign to introduce screening for all adults;
- work with Signature to raise awareness of deafness and hearing loss with the aim of reducing stigma; and
- consider the impact of government policy on the education and employment prospects of people who are deaf or have a hearing loss.
The Group will also hold an inquiry into the cost of minority language status for British Sign Language (BSL).
It wants to understand the economic, social and personal costs of not recognising a language indigenous to the UK, and what it would mean to the country if the government ratified the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages with respect to BSL.
queby
July 7, 2015
Force theatres to show at least 1 captioned performance during a run?
Tim
July 7, 2015
Glad to see Ian Mearns there. The others are a bit of an unknown quantity to me, so we’ll see.
Very pleased to see Bruce and Lloyd gone and have lost their seats: we need people who are on our side.
John David Walker
July 7, 2015
Where can we see the list of members to this All Parliamentary Group on Deafness? Some of these MPs and Lords could have deaf constituents who would like to raise issues with them.
ivanosborne@mac.com
July 8, 2015
No mention of Atw or the potential new Framework?
Editor
July 8, 2015
I’ve contacted the group to express those concerns, which I share – thank you. Charlie
Dan Sumners (@sumnersdan)
July 8, 2015
Just to let you know those issues are very much on the agenda, but the Group recognises there’s already lots of work going on in the sector. The Group will be monitoring them – the UK Council on Deafness will keep them updated – and will act where it’s needed. Also, many of the Members are already asking questions in the Houses, talking to Ministers about them and hearing from their constituents.