British Sign Language Week

Ben Coleman Excerpts

Thursday 20th March 2025 Westminster Hall

[Jen Craft]

I completely agree: deaf children need qualified teachers of the deaf. I thank Mrs Smith, who is in the Public Gallery today—an exceptional teacher of the deaf in my constituency. I come back to the point about the patchwork of sign language provision for parents. There is an estimate that the availability of courses has fallen by 34% in certain areas since before the pandemic.

Parents are often told to access support through adult community colleges. While they provide an excellent grounding in BSL, it is usually irrelevant for the kind of conversations that parents need and want to have with their child. For example, my one-year-old daughter did not really have too much interest in how many brothers and sisters I have, what job I want to do or what my favourite colour is, but the signs for “milk”, “mummy”, “daddy”, “play”, “book” and, most importantly, “biscuit” very much caught her attention.

It is also hard for adults who are not naturally adept in learning languages to learn a completely new language in a way that meets their learning needs. I ask the Minister to work with me, the British Deaf Association and the National Deaf Children’s Society to build a pathway to ensure that parents of deaf children have access to relevant BSL lessons no matter where they grow up.

[Ben Coleman (Chelsea and Fulham) (Lab)]

I am most grateful to my hon. Friend for securing this important debate. I was pleased to see plans for a GCSE in British Sign Language following the passage of the BSL Act, but I am concerned that it has still not been rolled out, even though it is an essential step in promoting BSL, increasing the awareness of those who use it, and helping those who are not themselves deaf in understanding how to use it.

One of the most enjoyable things I was able to attend at the end of last year was an event where lots of primary schools in my borough did a Christmas concert. They all sang in English and signed at the same time. It was one of the most encouraging and inclusive events I have been to in a long time. Does my hon. Friend agree that rolling out the British Sign Language GCSE would create lots more opportunities for deaf people, including in employment, which is a matter very much on our minds at the moment, and that the GCSE should be rolled out without any further delay?

[Jen Craft]

My hon. Friend is absolutely right: it is a real shame that the BSL GCSE is not yet part of the curriculum. I understand there are some delays around what a qualification would look like. However, BSL already has a qualification that is agreed by the deaf community and the BSL first-language community. I ask that the Minister goes back to his colleagues in the Department for Education and requests they provide an update on progress, as it is crucial that we have new BSL signers who are confident.

My hon. Friend made a good point about the number of deaf people in employment. Research shows that only 37% of BSL first-language speakers are in work. That is compared to 77% of people who are hearing and without a separate disability. In my constituency, there is no support for BSL first-language speakers to access employment, which is a real shame. That speaks to the experience that BSL first-language speakers and deaf people in general have when they try to access services. They face ongoing challenges in daily life accessing healthcare, employment and a society that often overlooks their needs.

SignHealth, a fantastic organisation that advocates for the needs of deaf people in the healthcare system, says that 67% of deaf people report no accessible method of contacting their GP. The long-term impacts on health and wellbeing are very clear, with deaf people twice as likely to suffer mental health problems as their hearing peers. The deaf community is being held back by a shocking lack of societal understanding of British sign language. Part of that is a lack of awareness that BSL is completely different from spoken English, and that even in written communications there is need for an interpretation.

As parliamentarians, we can be leaders in driving greater understanding of British sign language. Through Parliament and in our constituencies, we can promote the interests of the signing community. Today’s debate is an important signal of our recognition of the needs of BSL first-language speakers. It is the first time ever that live translation is being provided both in the Chamber and broadcast from the studio on parliamentlive.tv. I am now the first MP to have used sign language in a debate in this Parliament, and the first to do so since 2022, I believe.

Next year, I hope to host this debate in the main Chamber, where having live interpreters on the Floor of the House would be unprecedented. I encourage all colleagues from across the House to take advantage of the House’s BSL scheme to learn some BSL, so that they are able to better communicate with the 87,000 BSL first-language speakers. I am sure there are a number in each constituency, so it can only be beneficial. It would be a really big milestone in demonstrating Parliament’s accessibility for deaf signers.

I also hope that in British Sign Language Week next year we can reflect on the progress that will have been made in the intervening months. Nineteen years separated the recognition of BSL as a language and the landmark British Sign Language Act 2022. We cannot wait another 19 years for the next significant step forward. Alongside the British Deaf Association and members of the all-party parliamentary group, I am calling on the Government to go further in promoting BSL.

Ministers need to support the expansion of access to sign language classes. Through national funding, the Government can deliver a universal service of BSL support to the families of deaf children—a national programme of early years intervention that could give every child the opportunity to benefit from BSL. This is about choice. For some parents, the choice to learn BSL may not be the right one, but it is about ensuring that parents have that choice to make. It is about giving deaf children the opportunity to choose their method of communication and the way that works best for them.