Asked by: Gill German (Labour - Clwyd North)
Question
To ask the Secretary of State for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of proposed restrictions on social media for under-16s on disabled children, including (a) Deaf children who use British Sign Language and (b) autistic and other neurodivergent children.
Answered by Ian Murray - Minister of State (Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport)
The Government recognises that online services can be especially valuable to disabled children, supporting communication, learning, social connection and access to information. Our consultation committed to considering potential unintended consequences, including possible impacts of any potential restrictions on vulnerable children, including those with special needs and disabilities. As regulations are developed, we will continue engaging children, parents, civil society, Ofcom and industry to ensure implementation is evidence-based, proportionate and inclusive, including for children with disabilities. We are also committed to ensuring that all children can have enriching experiences offline.
Asked by: Nadia Whittome (Labour - Nottingham East)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps her department is taking to provide more British Sign Language interpreters in emergency care settings.
Answered by Karin Smyth - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The Government is committed to ensuring that Deaf people who use British Sign Language (BSL) can access health services safely and without avoidable barriers.
In June 2026, the Government announced plans to significantly increase the number of interpreters for deafblind people through the funding of interpreter competency sessions.
Under the Equality Act 2010, National Health Service organisations must make reasonable adjustments for disabled people, including providing appropriate communication support where required.
NHS organisations are also expected to comply with the Accessible Information Standard (AIS), which requires providers to identify and meet patients' information and communication needs, including those of people who use BSL. NHS England is working to support implementation of the AIS with awareness raising, communication and staff engagement.
NHS England is also rolling out the Reasonable Adjustment Digital Flag, which will enable health and care services to record and share information about support patients may require when accessing care.
Asked by: Darren Paffey (Labour - Southampton Itchen)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, (a) what assessment he has made of the accessibility of the Access to Work application process and ongoing communications for people with different disabilities and (b) what steps he is taking to ensure the scheme is accessible for disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
It is very important that Access to Work is accessible for people with different disabilities. As such, we currently offer several different communication methods before and during the application process. For example, applications can be made online at Access to Work: Apply for an Access to Work grant - GOV.UK, by phone via the Access to Work Helpline, via Relay UK (if you cannot hear or speak on the phone) or via the British Sign Language (BSL) video relay service. We normally require that evidence documents must be submitted by post for security reasons, however we also accept correspondence by email for those who require this as a reasonable adjustment.
As part of our continuous efforts to improve accessibility, we are also currently developing a new digital capability that will allow customers to upload documents online.
Asked by: Sarah Green (Liberal Democrat - Chesham and Amersham)
Question to the Department for Energy Security & Net Zero:
To ask the Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure that the terms and conditions attached to smart meter tariff benefits, including off-peak and free supply offers, are communicated transparently to consumers at the point of sign-up.
Answered by Martin McCluskey - Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State (Department for Energy Security and Net Zero)
Ofgem’s supply licence conditions require energy suppliers to take all reasonable steps to communicate the principal terms of an energy contract in plain and intelligible language.
Licence conditions also require suppliers to treat customers fairly, provide tariff information in a way that is complete, accurate and not misleading, and comply with rules on marketing, sales and contract information. Ofgem is responsible for monitoring and enforcing supplier compliance with these obligations.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps her Department is taking to ensure continuity of specialist British Sign Language-accessible domestic abuse support for deaf victims and survivors when the current funding period ends.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As part of ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, the Home Office committed to deliver specialist VAWG Helplines across England and Wales alongside 1-1 advocacy support for victims of VAWG who are least likely to be able to access support locally. The competitions to deliver this £24 million investment closed on 31 July 2026. As the competitions are still ongoing, we are unable to comment on the details beyond what has already been published.
However, we can provide assurance that the Home Office is working to ensure there is no gap in provision between existing services including for disabled people and the services awarded through the competition.
Asked by: Sarah Gibson (Liberal Democrat - Chippenham)
Question to the Home Office:
To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what steps the Department is taking to prevent an interruption to specialist British Sign Language-accessible domestic abuse support when the current funding period ends in October 2026.
Answered by Satvir Kaur - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Home Office)
As part of ‘Freedom from Violence and Abuse: a cross-government strategy to build a safer society for women and girls’, the Home Office committed to deliver specialist VAWG Helplines across England and Wales alongside 1-1 advocacy support for victims of VAWG who are least likely to be able to access support locally.
The competitions to deliver this £24 million investment closed on 31 July 2026. As the competitions are still ongoing, we are unable to comment on the details beyond what has already been published. However, we can provide assurance that the Home Office is working to ensure there is no gap in provision between existing services including for disabled people and the services awarded through the competition.
Asked by: James Naish (Labour - Rushcliffe)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what estimate she has made of the number of additional qualified teachers of the deaf required to deliver the new GCSE in British Sign Language; and what steps she is taking to address the shortfall of 200 teachers identified by the National Deaf Children's Society.
Answered by Georgia Gould - Minister of State (Education)
The British Sign Language (BSL) GCSE is a key feature of our commitment to enhancing the status of BSL in education and society.
Following the publication of Ofqual's final qualification rules, awarding organisations are now able to develop detailed specifications that will form the basis of the content taught in schools and colleges. These specifications will need to be accredited by Ofqual before the GCSE can be made available for delivery.
We are working closely with stakeholders from the deaf community and across the school sector to discuss and develop workforce options so that school leaders can access a high-quality teaching workforce when this new GCSE is taught in schools.
Teachers who teach a class of pupils who are deaf are required to hold the relevant mandatory qualification in sensory impairment. Teachers that work peripatetically to support deaf children should also hold the qualification. Alongside the academic route, there is a sensory impairment apprenticeship, offering a paid, work-based route into teaching children and young people who have a hearing impairment.
Asked by: Layla Moran (Liberal Democrat - Oxford West and Abingdon)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to ensure consultations on disability benefits reforms are accessible for disabled people.
Answered by Stephen Timms - Minister of State (Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government) (Equalities)
This Government values the input of disabled people and people with health conditions in addition to the representative organisations and people that support them.
That is why we brought forward a Green Paper and opened a public consultation – which received over 47,500 responses before closing on 30 June 2025. The consultation was published in a range of accessible versions including braille, audio, British Sign Language (BSL), Welsh language, Easy Read, large print and web-accessible formats. In addition to the public consultation, we ran a programme of accessible public events to further facilitate input. The series of both virtual and in-person events across the country helped us to hear from disabled people and representative organisations directly.
Our conversations with disabled people and people with health conditions, as well as experts, shaped and informed the Green Paper. We are committed to continuing this dialogue and drawing on a wide range of insights and experiences to get these reforms right. We published our summary to the Pathways to Work Green Paper consultation responses on 30 October 2025. We are considering feedback on these proposals as we develop them further.
The Timms Review is being co-produced by disabled people, the organisations that represent them and other experts. The steering group is committed to ensuring the Review is informed by a broad range of voices and experiences, and to making engagement accessible. The steering group agreed to use a mix of approaches combining lived experience, expert insight, existing research, new quantitative data and workshops across the UK to gather evidence.
The Review has run a Call for Evidence and ‘Workshop in a Box’ sessions to gather input from individuals and organisations with a full suite of accessible versions, including British Sign Language, Braille, Easy Read, Large Print, Audio, and Welsh versions. The Call for Evidence received over 38,000 responses. A summary of these findings was published alongside the Interim Report on 9 July. The Review will report to the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions for final decisions by autumn 2026.
Asked by: Luke Charters (Labour - York Outer)
Question to the Department for Work and Pensions:
To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what support is available to hearing parents of deaf children to learn British Sign Language.
Answered by Andrew Western - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The government understands the great importance of British Sign Language (BSL) for bridging barriers to communication between hearing and deaf people and appreciates the vital need for families with deaf children to be able to access BSL courses, as early access to language is essential to help children learn and thrive.
Funding is available through DWP’s Adult Skills Fund (ASF) for qualifications in or focussing on BSL, up to and including level 2. The ASF fully funds or co-funds skills provision for eligible adults aged 19 and above from pre-entry to level 3, to help them gain the skills they need for work, an apprenticeship or further learning. 68% of the ASF has been devolved to 13 Strategic Authorities, who determine which provision to fund for learners who live in their areas. The DWP provides the remaining funding for learners who live in non-devolved areas.
The DWP funded BSL qualifications include, for example, the Level 1 Award in BSL which allows learners to communicate in BSL on a range of topics that involve simple, everyday language use, thereby giving them the basic skills and confidence in production and reception of BSL. It will depend on an individual’s circumstances as to whether they are entitled to free provision or expected to meet part of the cost through co-funding. Where tailored learning providers offer BSL courses, those providers are responsible for determining the course fees, including levels of fee remission. For qualifications at Level 3 and above Advanced Learner Loans are available for certain BSL qualifications.
Asked by: Alison Bennett (Liberal Democrat - Mid Sussex)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what steps his Department is taking to help ensure the provision of British Sign Language interpreters within emergency services.
Answered by Preet Kaur Gill
Integrated care boards are responsible for commissioning services to meet the health needs of their local population, which includes responsibility for ensuring that there is adequate provision of British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters to support deaf patients.
To facilitate clear and effective communication in emergency situations, individuals who are deaf, hard of hearing, or speech impaired can utilise tools such as the 999BSL video relay platform, both app and web-based, to contact 999 via a BSL interpreter as well as access via emergency SMS messaging.
Video relay apps can also be used to support communication and face-to-face assessment by crews on scene at incidents, where, via on-board iPads, paramedics can connect patients with a remote BSL video interpreter. These resources, which are free to use and operate 24 hours, seven days a week, ensure that real-time communication is possible for BSL users when emergency and urgent assistance is required.
The BSL Advisory Board was established in 2023, to advise the Government on key issues impacting the Deaf community in their everyday life. On 27 November 2025, the BSL Advisory Board published a report titled Locked out: Exclusion of deaf and deafblind BSL users from health and social care in the UK, which is available at the following link:
The Government welcomed the report, and thanked the BSL Advisory Board for their work to improve the accessibility, inclusion, and the experiences of Deaf and Deafblind BSL users within the health and social care system. The board’s recommendations are informing work to implement the 10-Year Health Plan and to reform adult social care so we can deliver improvements to the health, care, and the experience of Deaf people.