A report which details what the government is doing to promote
and facilitate the use of British Sign Language (BSL) in its
communications with the public.
British Sign Language (BSL)
third report – May 2024 to April 2025
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Details
This report covers British Sign Language (BSL) usage in
government communications.
The British
Sign Language (BSL) Act 2022 legally recognises BSL as a
language of England, Scotland and Wales, but not Northern
Ireland, where equality law is devolved.
It requires the government to report on the use of BSL by the
ministerial departments named in the schedule to the BSL Act, in
their public communications.
This third report includes:
- an introduction
- context and background
- case studies of good practice
- information on what the government will do to increase the
use of BSL in its communications
It also includes details about the number of BSL translations
made by relevant ministerial departments during the reporting
period, including:
- public announcements about policy or about changes to the law
in BSL
- publications – plans, strategies, consultation documents or
consultation responses in BSL
- press conferences, social media or government website use to
publicise activities or policies in BSL
This report is compiled by the Disability Unit, part of the
Cabinet Office.
This third publication formally reports the data for the period
between the first report (28 June
2022 to 30 April 2023) and this report (1 May 2023 to 30 April
2025). This report will share case studies from the period
between 1 May 2024 to 30 April 2025. The second report provided
case studies from the period between 1 May 2023 to 30 April
2024.
The first report was
published on 31 July 2023.
The second report was
published on 17 December 2024 and was voluntary.
Each ministerial department has also been asked to produce a 5
year BSL Plan, setting out how they plan to improve the use of
BSL within their departments. These plans have been published
alongside this report.
