British Sign Language Bill progresses to Lords third reading as it skips committee stage

The British Sign Language (BSL) Bill will now have its third reading in the House of Lords, after no amendments were tabled at its committee stage.

The committee of the whole house was due to take place on Wednesday, but no proposed changes to the Bill were submitted and no member wanted to speak about the draft legislation.

Lord Holmes of Richmond, who is sponsoring the bill in the Lords, told the chamber: “My Lords, I understand that no amendments have been set down to the Bill and that no noble lord wishes to move a manuscript amendment or to speak in committee.

“Unless, therefore, any noble lord objects, I beg to move that the order of commitment be discharged.”

The motion was then backed by lords unanimously.

According to Erskine May, a document which sets out Parliamentary procedure, a lord in charge of a Bill can propose “that the order of commitment be discharged” if the Bill remains unamended with no one wishing to speak.

“If the motion is agreed to, the next stage is the third reading,” it states.

The third reading is the final step of the Bill’s progress in the Lords, before any final amendments are considered and the Bill comes law through Royal Assent.

While no official date has been set for the third reading at the time of writing, the British Deaf Association claims this will take place on 27 April.

Photo: ParliamentLive.TV.

By Liam O’Dell. Liam is an award-winning Deaf freelance journalist and campaigner from Bedfordshire. He can be found talking about disability, theatre, politics and more on Twitter and on his website.