BSL Advisory Board meeting summary: 24 April 2024 (including BSL version)
Updated 2 August 2024
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
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British Sign Language (BSL) version
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TL3-QPOGmSE
Attendees
- Craig Crowley MBE FRSA, Co-chair of BSL Advisory Board
- Alex Gowlland, Deputy Director of Disability Unit (DU), Cabinet Office, Co-chair
- Vicki Ashmore
- Jo Atkinson
- Teri Devine
- Zoe Fudge-Ajadi
- Asif Iqbal MBE
- Richard Macqueen
- Richard Platt
- Kate Reed
- Sylvia Simmonds
- Sam Stocken
- Mangai Sutharsan
- Martin Thacker
Three officials from DU and one from the Department for Digital, Culture, Media and Sport (DCMS) attended.
Apologies
- Scott Garthwaite
- Gaye Hampton
- Ahmed Mudawi
- Erin McCluskey
Summary of discussion
1. Introduction
Craig welcomed the group and led brief introductions. An update was provided on producing a progress report for the minister on the work of the board in the first year.
2. Chair updates
Craig discussed the progress being made by the board and a reminder that the board has achieved a lot over the past year. Alex thanked the board members for providing feedback and videos on their experiences of the board for social media.
3. Updates from the subgroup chairs
Health and social care
The subgroup invited experts from 15 organisations to present on gaps, areas for improvements, solutions and signpost their relevant work and initiatives.
The format of concise presentations and written submissions allowed the subgroup to collect a high quantity and quality of information in a short period of time.
The subgroup will host another event like this with different experts.
Government communication
Monitoring of each government department’s progress is ongoing. The subgroup met with the Home Office to hear about passport accessibility.
Education
The subgroup has not met since the last board meeting. There is an education subgroup meeting scheduled imminently.
4. Update on the BSL Act 2022 duties: guidance and reporting
DU reported that departments have been working on their improvement plans to include in the next BSL report (to be published July 2024).
The statutory guidance will be produced later this year by DU on behalf of the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, with input from external stakeholders.
5. Presentation from DCMS on Deaf access to sport
DCMS were invited to give a presentation on their sports strategy. Board members raised questions about discrimination within mainstream sport, lack of participation, no pathway for the Deaflympics and no funding or recognition for Deaf athletes.
6. Deaf experience within the justice system
Sylvia raised a number of areas where BSL users are facing issues when interacting with the court system.
One issue was the example of unqualified or unregistered interpreters being hired to interpret court cases, leading to delays in cases. An action was taken to raise these concerns with the Ministry of Justice.
7. Two-year planning session
The Board held a detailed discussion about how best to use the remaining 2 years of the current Board members’ time.
Alex set out some different options for communicating the need for change within government departments.