Further advisory council details revealed as British Sign Language Act comes into force

The non-statutory advisory board advising on the British Sign Language (BSL) Act will be made up of nine BSL users, it has been announced, as the law legally recognising the language came into effect on Tuesday.

The Act, which also requires the Work and Pensions Secretary to produce regular reports on the UK Government’s work to ‘promote and facilitate’ BSL, passed its final parliamentary stage in April.

David Buxton, chair of the British Deaf Association and founder of the BSL Act Now campaign, told viewers of a livestream last night: “Ultimately there are nine people that make up the Advisory Council, then there will be four organisational seats and there will also be four seats for the civil service as well.”

He added he hoped the civil servants selected have the “capacity to sign” and that the nine Deaf individuals have a “geographical range” covering England, Scotland and Wales, where the BSL Act has effect.

BDA CEO Rebecca Mansell said guidelines would be published by the UK Government as to “who can apply to be on the Advisory Board” and that this would be shared with the Deaf community when they are available.

In response to questions submitted by The Limping Chicken, Robert Geaney of the Royal National Institute for Deaf people (RNID) said: “I think Where Is The Interpreter may well be one of the reasons why the government was more likely to accept the BSL Act.

“In terms of how the Advisory Council will work, I’m not embarrassed or ashamed by saying we don’t know. This is brand-new territory, and actually it is not for us, it’s for the Advisory Group to decide for itself how it wants to approach these issues.”

Mr Buxton added the “three predominant issues” he would like to see covered by the Council would be “health, social care and education”.

While BSL was legally recognised on Tuesday, and reporting requirements also came into force, Section 4 of the Act states that the issuing of guidance under Section 3 will take effect once the Work and Pensions Secretary “appoints by regulations made by a statutory instrument”.

Although this is yet to take place, Mr Geaney told The Limping Chicken that “the Government is ploughing forward and all the indicators we are getting is positive”.

He continued to say asking when the statutory instrument to enact Section 3 will come forward “hasn’t been something I’ve asked”, but he is “fairly confident” it “shouldn’t take that long”.

Elsewhere, a video from Chloe Smith MP, the Minister for Disabled People, saw the Conservative politician described the day of the Act coming into force as a “special day”.

“There is so much more to do, of course, after this exciting day. We’ve all waited a long time for it and now we’re going to make it even better by making sure we work together with signers on our Advisory Council to implement the Act and make sure we’re breaking down those barriers to inclusion,” she said.

Photo: British Deaf Association/Facebook.

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.