Liam O’Dell: What next for the British Sign Language Act?

It may surprise you to know that British Sign Language (BSL) wasn’t technically recognised in law when the BSL Bill passed through the House of Lords on Wednesday and received Royal Assent a day later.

Sure, it received unanimous support and Commons Speaker Lindsay Hoyle confirmed  it was now the British Sign Language Act in the chamber on Thursday, but it’s always worth looking at the small print.

Section 4(3) of the BSL Act states “Sections 1 and 2 and the Schedule come into force at the end of the period of two months beginning with the day on which this Act is passed”.

In other words, the bit of the law which says BSL “is recognised as a language of England, Wales and Scotland” – Section 1 – comes into effect two months on from Thursday which, according to my rough calculations, is 28 June 2022.

As for Section 2, the “duty of the Secretary of State [for Work and Pensions] to report on British Sign Language”, that too will come into effect on 28 June 2022. The first reporting period would cover this date up until 30 April next year – as noted under Section 2(7)(a) of the Act.

We wouldn’t have long to wait for the first report to be published after 30 April 2023, either, as Section 2(6) states: “The Secretary of State must publish each British Sign Language report no more than three months after the end of the reporting period to which it relates.”

So there’s another date for your diaries: three months on from the 30 April next year is 30 July 2023, but as that’s a Sunday, it’s likely it’ll be by Monday 31 July 2023 that the UK Government has to share its first BSL report with us.

It doesn’t just end with that first report, either. As Section 2(7)(b) notes: “In respect of each subsequent British Sign Language report, the period (being not longer than three years) [begins] on the day after the previous reporting period ended and [ends] on such date as the Secretary of State decides.”

So with the first report set to cover 28 June to 30 April 2023, the second will deal with 1 May to – at the very latest – May 2026, if the Work and Pensions Secretary decides to release the reports every three years. The Bill’s explanatory notes suggest the reports could be published “more frequently” in order to “align with UK disability reporting”.

Section 3 meanwhile, around the issuing of guidance, is a little trickier, as that “comes into force on such day as the Secretary of State appoints” through a statutory instrument – or simply put, a secondary law which sits under the wider BSL Act which will simply require a yes/no vote to pass.

The guidance is due to be drawn up by the BSL Advisory Board made up of BSL signers, and in terms of when the Board will be established, it’s been revealed that it’ll be set up “by the summer”, so not long now.

We need to put pressure on the Work and Pensions Secretary, Thérèse Coffey, to enact Section 3 as soon as possible, though I suspect that’ll happen when the guidance has actually been created by the Board – and that hasn’t even been set up yet!

Let us hope the momentum around the BSL Act continues for many months (and indeed, years) to come.

Photo: Ollie Cole.

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.