- New co-chair of BSL Advisory Board announced
- Current co-chair Craig Crawley ends his term and government
thank him for his work
- New members appointed to help break down barriers to
opportunity
Dr Joanna Atkinson has been appointed the new co-chair. She
brings a breadth of experience as a psychologist working in the
NHS as well as in mental health, educational and medicolegal
settings with deaf BSL users.
The new board held its first meeting on 4 December 2025. They
will look to continue and build on the work the previous members
started, as well as identifying new opportunities to influence
the government on issues that face Deaf people.
Minister for Social Security and Disability, Sir MP, said:
The BSL Advisory Board is crucial in bridging the gap between the
government and the Deaf community and provides valuable advice.
I am grateful to the board's outgoing members and to Craig,
for their hard work and dedication to removing barriers
faced by BSL users.
I look forward to working with new and continuing members to
boost opportunities for Deaf and disabled people.
The BSL Advisory Board is part of the UK government's commitment
to putting the views and voices of Deaf and disabled people at
the heart of its work.
It is central to our mission to break down barriers to
opportunity. It also ensures the Deaf community has a say on the
issues that matter most to them, including education, health and
social care, technology, and Deafblindness.
A recent success of the BSL Advisory Board was the publication of
their health and social care
report. This was accompanied by a launch event in Parliament,
attended by the Minister of State for Social Security and
Disability, and the Minister for Health Innovation and
Safety.
The report was developed with over 60 Deaf organisations,
professionals, academics and frontline health and social care
staff. Its aim is to better understand the range of experiences
and barriers faced by the Deaf community.
The government is working hard to build on the foundations set by
the BSL Act 2022. This requires ministerial departments to
publish a report every 3 years to show how they have promoted the
use of BSL in their communications.
This year, each department was also asked to produce a 5-year BSL Plan,
setting out how they plan to improve the use of BSL within their
departments. For many this includes increasing awareness of BSL
across their departments. These plans were published by each
department alongside the third BSL
report.
The government is also committed to:
- making the right to equal pay effective for disabled people
and people from ethnic minorities
- introducing mandatory ethnicity and disability pay gap
reporting for large employers
These measures will be part of the upcoming draft Equality (Race
and Disability) Bill. The bill aims to make workplaces more
inclusive while supporting recruitment, retention and progression
that enhances opportunity and improves lives.
Notes to editors
New BSL Advisory Board members include:
- Co-Chair - Dr Joanna Atkinson
- Matthew Adedeji
- Damian Brewer
- Theresa Devine
- Catherine Drew
- Marcella Dwek
- Helen Foulkes
- Abigail Gorman
- Laura Hawksworth
- Sabina Iqbal
- Hassan Moinuddin
- Ahmed Mudawi
- Jemina Napier
- Dai O'Brien
- Kate Reed
- Sarah Reed
- Christopher Reid
- Lucy Wox
