Proposed Consultation on BSL Bill

Foreword

As Convenor of the Scottish Parliament Cross Party Group on Deafness, I am pleased to introduce this consultation on a British Sign Language (BSL) Bill.

This Bill aims to secure BSL as one of Scotland’s official languages, commanding equal respect with English and Gaelic; equally, it endeavours to achieve better awareness of information needs and services for BSL users; to protect the linguistic integrity of the language; and to promote the cultural aspects of BSL and the Deaf community as part of Scottish heritage.

The Scotland Act (1998) gave the Scottish Parliament power to encourage equal opportunities, particularly the observing of the equal opportunities requirements. It also has power to impose duties on Scottish public authorities and public bodies operating in Scotland.

The Scotland Act defines equal opportunities as:

"the prevention, elimination or regulation of discrimination between persons on grounds of sex or marital status, on racial grounds, or on grounds of disability, age, sexual orientation, language or social origin, or of other personal attributes, including beliefs or opinions, such as religious beliefs or political opinions."

There have been many discussions and consultations with the people of Scotland on how the equalities agenda is moved forward, and Scotland is a world leader on many equality issues. However, it still remains a fact that in Scotland in 2010 – 11 years on from Devolution, Deaf people who use BSL, which is a language in its own right, must rely on disability discrimination legislation to secure access to information and services in their own language. This is the reason that I am prepared to put forward a BSL Bill to the Scottish Parliament.

Cathie Craigie MSP

Click here for full details on on BSL Bill.

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Deaf Connections supports MSP Cathie Craigie in launching the BSL Bill which, if supported by fellow parliamentarians, would substantially improve the lives of BSL users in Scotland.