The British Sign Language Act 2022 (c. 34) is an act of the

Parliament of the United Kingdom The Parliament of the United Kingdom is the Parliamentary sovereignty in the United Kingdom, supreme Legislature, legislative body of the United Kingdom, the Crown Dependencies and the British Overseas Territories. It meets at the Palace of We ...

, which legally recognises

British Sign Language British Sign Language (BSL) is a sign language used in the United Kingdom (UK), and is the first or preferred language among the Deaf community in the UK. Based on the percentage of people who reported 'using British Sign Language at home' o ...

(BSL) as a language of England, Scotland and Wales. It also requires the Secretary of State to publish reports each reporting period on how BSL is promoted or facilitated by certain government department. The first of these reports was published on 31 July 2023.

Passage

The British Sign Language Bill was introduced to the

House of Commons The House of Commons is the name for the elected lower house of the bicameral parliaments of the United Kingdom and Canada. In both of these countries, the Commons holds much more legislative power than the nominally upper house of parliament. ...

as a private members' bill on 16 June 2021 by

Rosie Cooper Rosemary Elizabeth Cooper (born 5 September 1950) is a British health official and former Labour Party politician who has served as the chair of Mersey Care NHS Foundation Trust since November 2022. Previously, she served as the Member of Parl ...

. The Bill gained cross-party and Government support before passing its second and third reading in the House of

Commons The commons is the cultural and natural resources accessible to all members of a society, including natural materials such as air, water, and a habitable Earth. These resources are held in common even when owned privately or publicly. Commons c ...

and Lords without any difficulties. It received royal assent on 28 April 2022.

Legal effect

The Act legally recognises

as a language of England, Scotland and Wales, a similar status to

Welsh Welsh may refer to: Related to Wales * Welsh, referring or related to Wales * Welsh language, a Brittonic Celtic language spoken in Wales * Welsh people People * Welsh (surname) * Sometimes used as a synonym for the ancient Britons (Celtic peopl ...

and

Scottish Gaelic Scottish Gaelic ( gd, Gàidhlig ), also known as Scots Gaelic and Gaelic, is a Goidelic language (in the Celtic branch of the Indo-European language family) native to the Gaels of Scotland. As a Goidelic language, Scottish Gaelic, as well a ...

. It requires the government to publish reports on how the language is used in its public communications and issue guidance on promoting its usage. It is somewhat modelled in motives on the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 which places similar requirements on ministers in the Scottish Government. In order to ensure its obligations under this law, the Government continues to work with other organizations that participate in the campaign. An unidentified advisory council has been established here, in which representatives of the deaf community advise public services. Thanks to this law, the number of registered interpreters has increased. At the same time, access to job provision for applicants and employers has improved.

References

Citations

Bibliography

* United Kingdom Acts of Parliament 2022 British Sign Language Language legislation Language policy in the United Kingdom {{UK-law-stub