Asked by: Mark Pritchard (Conservative - The Wrekin)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, if she will publish an action plan on steps to help local education authorities expand the provision of sign language courses for families of deaf children.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Funding is available through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) for qualifications in, or focusing on, British Sign Language (BSL) up to and including level 2. Approximately 60% of the AEB has been devolved to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, who determine which provision to fund for learners who live in their areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) provides the remaining funding for learners who live in non-devolved areas.
ESFA funded AEB 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 community learning providers offer BSL courses, those providers are responsible for determining the course fees, including levels of fee remission. Some local authorities receive a funding allocation as part of the AEB, depending on the circumstances in each area.
For some BSL courses, Advanced Learner Loans (ALLs) are available. Parents can find more information about which qualifications are eligible at: https://www.qualifications.education.gov.uk/Search. More general information about the provision of ALLs is available at: https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan.
For parents learning BSL on an AEB funded course, there is also additional support available. The AEB provides funding to colleges and providers to help adult learners overcome barriers preventing them from accessing learning. Providers have discretion to help learners meet costs such as transport, accommodation, books, equipment, and childcare. Learning support funding also helps colleges and training providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Ian Byrne (Labour - Liverpool, West Derby)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, whether her Department has plans to introduce funding for adults in families with deaf children to learn British Sign Language; and whether funding is available for local authorities that wish to commission sign language courses.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
Funding is available through the Adult Education Budget (AEB) for qualifications in, or focussing on, British Sign Language (BSL), up to and including level 2. Approximately 60% of the AEB has been devolved to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, who determine which provision to fund for learners who live in their areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) provides the remaining funding for learners who live in non-devolved areas.
ESFA funded AEB 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 are expected to meet part of the cost through co-funding. Where community learning providers offer BSL courses, those providers are responsible for determining the course fees, including levels of fee remission.
For some BSL courses, Advanced Learner Loans (ALLs) are available and parents can find more information about which qualifications are eligible here: https://www.qualifications.education.gov.uk/Search. More general information about the provision of ALLs is available at: https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan.
For parents learning BSL on an AEB funded course, there is also additional support available. The AEB provides funding to colleges and providers to help adult learners overcome barriers preventing them from accessing learning. Providers have discretion to help learners meet costs such as transport, accommodation, books, equipment, and childcare. Learning support funding also helps colleges and training providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.
Asked by: Chi Onwurah (Labour - Newcastle upon Tyne Central)
Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:
To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, what assessment he has made of the implications for his policies regional variations in the uptake of the bowel cancer screening programme.
Answered by Helen Whately - Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)
The national service specifications aim to ensure local providers support their community to take part in the NHS Bowel Cancer Screening Programme and are monitored by local commissioners. Providers must have systems in place to address inequalities and ensure equity of access for people with protected characteristics if they have a registered general practitioner and identifies and supports people who are considered under-served to access screening.
Regionally and nationally several initiatives have been implemented, from targeting bowel cancer screening awareness campaigns on communities with lower uptake to ensuring information is available in easy read formats, British Sign Language and other languages.
Asked by: Caroline Nokes (Conservative - Romsey and Southampton North)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the National Disability Strategy published on 28 July 2021, which of his Department’s commitments in that strategy that have not been paused as a result of legal action have (a) been fully, (b) been partially and (c) not been implemented.
Answered by Mike Freer - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Ministry of Justice)
In January 2022, the High Court declared the National Disability Strategy (NDS) was unlawful because the UK Disability Survey, which informed it, was held to be a voluntary consultation that failed to comply with the legal requirements on public consultations.
The Ministry of Justice had five policies included in the National Disability Strategy. These include to:
○ attract more disabled people to the magistracy;
○ set out enhanced rights for disabled victims;
○ progress legislation in 2021 as part of the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill to amend common law so that deaf people who need a British Sign Language (BSL) interpreter can do jury service
○ develop a neurodiversity training toolkit for frontline staff;
○ improve provision for disabled users, including through the accessibility of the estate and use of digital support.
Fully Implemented Policies
We remain fully committed to supporting disabled people in the UK through creating more opportunities, protecting their rights and ensuring they fully benefit from, and can contribute to, every aspect of our society. To support this, the Ministry of Justice will be providing further details of our recent achievements to improve disabled people’s lives in the forthcoming Disability Action Plan consultation due for publication in the summer.
Ahead of this, the Minister for Disabled People, Health and Work will write providing a list of these achievements and will place a copy in the House Library.
Asked by: Tracey Crouch (Conservative - Chatham and Aylesford)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, how many parents of deaf children participated in British sign language courses that were funded through the adult education budget in Kent and Medway in each of the last three years.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department is continuing to invest in education and skills training for adults through the Adult Education Budget (AEB), which was £1.34 billion in the 2022/23 financial year.
This includes qualifications in, or focusing on, British Sign Language (BSL) up to and including level 2. These 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.
About 60% of the AEB has been devolved to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, who determine which provision to fund for learners who live in their areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency provides the remaining funding for learners who live in non-devolved areas. Where community learning providers offer BSL courses, those providers are responsible for determining the course fees, including levels of fee remission.
There were 60 adult (19+) education and training learning aim enrolments in the 2021/22 academic year by learners living in Kent or Medway with ‘British Sign Language’ or ‘BSL’ in their aim title. In 2020/21, there were 35 enrolments and in 2019/20, there were 87. The department does not hold information as to whether the learners taking these aims have deaf children.
These figures do not correspond to learners, as learners may enrol on multiple aims. Additionally, these are funded adult (19+) education and training aim enrolments. This will include AEB-funded learning, as well as other funding provision, such as advanced learner loans.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Digital, Culture, Media & Sport:
To ask the Secretary of State for Culture, Media and Sport, whether her Department is taking steps to seek public feedback on the adequacy of public service broadcasting platforms for accessing digital content.
Answered by John Whittingdale
The Government recognises the importance of television being accessible to all. Under the Communications Act 2003 and Broadcasting Acts of 1990 and 1996, broadcasters, including public service broadcasters, are already required to meet targets for access services which includes subtitling, audio description and sign language for their linear TV services. Statutory targets are set by Ofcom which include five and ten year targets for licensed television services. Ofcom’s Code on Television Access Services sets out these obligations and provides guidance and best practice on access services for broadcasters. Ofcom assesses broadcasters to ensure they provide appropriate provision and Ofcom carries out access research on how services meet the needs of consumers. If a member of the public has specific concerns over a service, they can make a complaint to Ofcom.
More than three quarters of households now use video-on-demand services, but the provision of subtitles, signing and audio description on these services has lagged behind broadcast TV. Following public consultation, through the Media Bill the Government is putting in place access service requirements to ensure that mainstream Video on Demand (VoD) services, including those of public service broadcasters, are accessible to people with disabilities. Aligning with existing broadcasting requirements, this will mean that 80% of a services’ total catalogue of hours must be subtitled, 10% of content audio-described, and 5% of content signed.
Asked by: Aaron Bell (Conservative - Newcastle-under-Lyme)
Question
To ask the Minister for Women and Equalities, what progress she has made on implementing the British Sign Language Act 2022.
Answered by Mims Davies - Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
The British Sign Language Act includes a duty on the DWP Secretary of State to publish a report on the use of British Sign Language in public communications by ministerial departments.
The first reporting period was completed on the 30th of April this year and the report is due to be published in Summer.
In addition, DWP has established a dual language board of BSL users to inform HMG on BSL matters.
Asked by: Rachael Maskell (Labour (Co-op) - York Central)
Question to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs:
To ask the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, what steps she is taking to help (a) wheelchair users and (b) people with limited mobility to access the countryside.
Answered by Trudy Harrison
The Government recognises the importance of providing access to the outdoors for people’s health and wellbeing and is continuing to deliver projects which will increase access to and engagement with nature. This includes work to ensure that the countryside is accessible to everyone, including those with disabilities.
For example, are delivering the £14.5m ‘Access for All’ programme, which consists of a package of targeted measures in our protected landscapes, National Trails, forests and the wider countryside to make access to green and blue spaces more inclusive. More than £3.5m has already been spent on making our protected landscapes more accessible, including on: resurfacing paths; replacement of stiles with accessible gates; new benches and resting stops; accessible viewing platforms and the provision of new all-terrain trampers to support disabled people to access the countryside.
We are also making the King Charles III England Coast Path (KCIIIECP) as accessible as possible and have considered disability from the start in our development of the new Coast to Coast (C2C) National Trail.
Specifically, ways in which the KCIIIECP and C2C are being created to maximise their accessibility include:
Asked by: Derek Thomas (Conservative - St Ives)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what assessment she has made of the accessibility of British Sign Language classes for parents of (a) deaf children and (b) children with hearing loss who are (i) over the age of 23, (ii) not on a low income, (iii) not unemployed and (iv) ineligible for grants under the adult education budget.
Answered by Robert Halfon
The government has not assessed the accessibility of British Sign Language (BSL) classes for those who are ineligible for the Adult Education Budget (AEB).
The AEB targets a wide range of individuals, including, but not limited to, UK nationals, other non-UK nationals, certain EU nationals and their family members, and individuals with certain types of immigration status (such as refugee status and those with indefinite leave to remain) and some asylum seekers. In areas where the AEB is devolved, it is for the Mayoral Combined Authority or Greater London Authority to decide how funding is spent. In the rest of the country, which includes the St Ives Constituency, the Education and Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) manages the AEB. Learners who are employed and earn above the low wage threshold can be co-funded to complete provision up to and including level 2, which includes some BSL qualifications, meaning that the government pays a 50% contribution to the course cost.
Apart from the statutory entitlements, it is for AEB providers to choose how they wish to prioritise funding within their AEB allocations. For these learners, the department suggests contacting the education provider regarding enrolment and payment processes.
Asked by: Rupa Huq (Labour - Ealing Central and Acton)
Question to the Department for Education:
To ask the Secretary of State for Education, what recent steps she has taken to ensure that parents of deaf children have access to British Sign Language classes.
Answered by Claire Coutinho - Secretary of State for Energy Security and Net Zero
The department understands the great importance of British Sign Language (BSL) for bridging barriers to communication between hearing and deaf people. We also appreciate 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 the adult education budget (AEB) for qualifications in or focussing on BSL, up to and including Level 2. These 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).
About 60% of the AEB has been devolved to Mayoral Combined Authorities and the Greater London Authority, who determine which provision to fund for learners who live in their areas. The Education and Skills Funding Agency provides the remaining funding for learners who live in non-devolved areas. Where community learning providers offer BSL courses, those providers are responsible for determining the course fees, including levels of fee remission.
For some BSL courses, Advanced Learner Loans (ALLs) are available, and parents can find more information about which qualifications are eligible on the GOV.UK website at: https://www.qualifications.education.gov.uk/Search. More general information about the provision of ALLs is available on GOV.UK: https://www.gov.uk/advanced-learner-loan/.
For parents learning BSL on an AEB funded course, there is also additional support available. The AEB provides funding to colleges and providers to help adult learners overcome barriers preventing them from accessing learning. Providers have discretion to help learners meet costs such as transport, accommodation, books, equipment, and childcare. Learning support funding also helps colleges and training providers to meet the additional needs of learners with learning difficulties and/or disabilities and the costs of reasonable adjustments, as set out in the Equality Act 2010.