Labour MSP Mark Griffin’s British Sign Language (BSL) (Scotland) Bill has been formally introduced in the Scottish Parliament.
To see this article in BSL, courtesy of Tessa Padden, from our supporter, Signworld, who offer online BSL learning, press play below.
The Bill, which seeks to increase awareness of BSL and improve the services available for Scotland’s Deaf population, has been widely supported within the Deaf community and received the support of 43 MSPs from all political parties to move it to Stage One proceedings.
The Bill would place a requirement on the Scottish Government to produce a national plan for BSL. Relevant public authorities would also have to develop their own plans, highlighting what they will do to increase awareness of the language within their organisations and across Scotland.
1,192 responded to the public consultation, a high figure for Members Bills.
Mark said:
I am delighted that my British Sign Language Bill has been formally introduced.
BSL is the first language of many Deaf people in Scotland. It is the only language some have ever known, or ever will know, yet getting access to basic information in BSL can be incredibly difficult.
Simple things that so many of us take for granted such as arranging a medical appointment or reporting a crime are incredibly difficult for those who communicate in BSL. This has to change.
My Bill seeks to increase awareness of BSL throughout Scottish society, put pressure on the Scottish Government and relevant public authorities to develop action plans on improving access to information in BSL and work towards breaking down the barriers facing Scotland’s Deaf population on a daily basis.
I look forward to working with the members and stakeholders, as they look closely at the proposals over the next few months.
Professor Graham Turner, Director of the Centre for Translation & Interpreting Studies at Heriot-Watt University said:
We warmly welcome the BSL Bill and hope it will create the circumstances in which BSL is appropriately recognised as one of Scotland’s native languages.
The cultural heritage of BSL users must be protected and promoted so signers can flourish in a smarter, healthier and fairer society.
Over 12,500 British Sign Language users share far fewer than 100 professional interpreters in Scotland. It’s vital this Bill harnesses the hearing population’s growing interest in learning BSL and experiencing its creative richness; provides equal access to vital everyday services for BSL users; and enables Deaf people to secure and sustain employment that recognises their full potential.
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Cathy
November 1, 2014
What a brilliant Bill! We havent got this far in England yet!!!
Am just wondering what is meant by: “their own action plans” in relation to various public bodies? Does this mean they must put up a notice to say, they recognise BSL and will book interpreters for those who need them? Or the staff have BSL skills after being obliged to learn it? Or they have translated all information into BSL from English?
Their OWN action plans means they could all have different plans in relation to BSL. That is unlikely to be helpful.
This Bill is going to need to be carefully drafted and far more specific than most Bills usually are, otherwise there is likely to be a lot of confusion, legally and will thus create more problems than we’re trying to solve!
It is a very big Bill in terms of population size, given Scotland is very much less populated than England, so numbers of deaf people will be small indeed. They are lucky to have this kind of Bill going through and I look forward to the conclusion in the coming months.
Linda Richards
November 4, 2014
The Bill has had very careful consideration and guidance as to content. It had two consultations as the first Bill fell due to, and only due to the first MSP who sponsored the Bill, losing her seat. Both times, the consultation drew a near 100% support from the public and both times, the responses hit record numbers – over 1,000 and over 800 – well above the usual consultation response of any Bill in Scotland. The usual numbers have been around the 40-60 levels. The work on the Bill has been due to the push given to it by the then Director of SCOD (Scottish Council on Deafness), Lilian Lawson, who although now retired from that post, is still pushing for our support via emails and her Facebook page.
moebius
November 2, 2014
Just wondering… if Scotland had voted for independence, would this bill have been proposed, much less passed?
Ella
November 3, 2014
Yes – this has been in the pipeline since 2010 and has had cross-party backing. As for being passed, it hasn’t passed yet! 😉
SignHealth
November 3, 2014
We are delighted that a BSL members bill has been introduced at the Scottish Parliament. If it succeeds in becoming law it will dramatically improve Deaf people’s access to health information, and start to remove the inequalities which make Deaf people generally less healthy than hearing people – (BSL) http://www.signhealth.org.uk/signhealth-backs-scotlands-bsl-bill/
Cathy
November 4, 2014
Am not sure health inequalities are going to be wiped out with this bill!
Most deaf people are well aware of health issues such as drinking n smoking too much. The real reason their health maybe less good than a hearies is most likely due to other factors.
Pub gatherings are now very common and it is a form of socialisation, reducing impacts of loneliness, isolation and depression. These gatherings are unlikely to stop as a result so drinking increases.
This is just one example of how more interpreters or more funding fails to impact on this type of problem. We cannot fund terps 24hours a day!!!!
Health inequalities exist for hearies too: between rich and poor, not always due to poor education but lack of opportunities in life. This is the same for the deaf world.
I doubt such inequalities are going to reduce or be wiped out by public bodies “creating plans” to raise awareness of BSL. After all hearies being interested in BSL does “diddly squat” for us unless they decide to become an interpreter n that takes years!!
I hope the bill works as everyone is apparently expecting it to. Greater access to any service is brilliant, but eradicating health inequalities is another matter entirely.