British Sign Language (BSL) version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2LKJwr73bss

Attendees

Board members

• 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
• Gaye Hampton
• Zoe Fudge-Ajadi
• Asif Iqbal MBE
• Richard Macqueen
• Ahmed Mudawi
• Richard Platt
• Sylvia Simmonds
• Sam Stocken
• Martin Thacker 
• Mangai Sutharsan
• Erin McCluskey

Guests

• Nicki Freeling, Islington Council
• John Walker, Signature
• Matthew Ford, Signature
• Theresa Thomas Morton,  NRCPD
• Kathryn Townsend, Disability and Access Ambassador, Banking

3 civil servants from DU were also in attendance.

Apologies

• Kate Reed 

Summary of discussion

1. Introduction

Alex and Craig welcomed the group and led brief introductions. An update was provided on the BSL report, the provisions within the BSL Act 2022 and the terms of reference for the advisory board.

2. Subgroup updates

Health and social care subgroup

The subgroup will have finished all their research with Deaf organisations by the end of November. They are now drafting and preparing their health and social care report due in spring 2025.

Education subgroup

The subgroup spoke about the success of the Frank Barnes Education Summit. They are focussed on early years education and interventions, and are working with the Department of Education (DfE) to improve Deaf early years education.

Communication subgroup

This subgroup has concluded their work after making good progress in communication standards and improvement in the website accessibility. 

3. Islington Council presentation

Islington Council presented on BSL initiatives that they have started to put in place across their council. These include:

• an e-learning course on Deaf awareness
• in-person Deaf awareness sessions for frontline staff
• BSL level 1 classes for staff
• an apprenticeship to train a Deaf BSL teacher
• in-house interpreters

4. Signature presentation on the GCSE in BSL 

The Chair and Marketing Manager of Signature – the BSL qualifications body – presented to the board on their work and progress on the BSL GCSE. 

They spoke about wanting to create pathways for BSL learners but they would need to work more closely with DfE and Ofqual.

The board members raised questions around:

• extending BSL pathways for early years Deaf and hearing students
• the current shortage of Deafblind interpreters due to barriers around qualifications and costs

5. NRCPD Presentation 

The CEO of NRCPD told the board how they work to maintain standards of BSL interpreters through ‘right touch regulation’. NRCPD regulates language professionals who work with Deaf and Deafblind people.

They spoke about:

• preparing for risks relating to the GCSE
• improving the number of Deafblind interpreters
• training fees
• the inconsistency in procurement requirements of interpreters
• training native BSL users

They discussed barriers and potential solutions to increase the number of interpreters across the UK.

The board asked questions around Deafblind interpreters, how the board can support NRCPD’s work and the pathways to increase the number of qualified and high-quality interpreters.

6. Board discussion on future work and next steps  

The board voted to close down the communications subgroup. They commended Asif Iqbal, the subgroup chair, for his hard work.

The board voted to set up:

• a local authorities subgroup, with Asif as chair
• an employment subgroup, with Gaye Hampton as chair
• 2 short-term working groups on Deafblind interpreting and Deaf technology

7. Disability and Access Ambassador for banking presentation

The board learned about the positive work that the Disability and Access Ambassador for banking has been doing to support Deaf people accessing a range of financial services.

This includes:

• a monthly meeting with 35 financial firms who want to improve accessibility for Deaf people
• the launch of signingbanks.uk
• a range of new services which banks now offer to Deaf people as a result of the Ambassador’s work

The board asked questions around support for students going to university and the use of written letters by banks, which can act as barriers for the Deaf community. 

8. Any other business

The board discussed the next board meeting date. The co-chairs thanked the board members for their contributions and the meeting concluded.