Sign language law has brought significant benefits to deaf people – committee

A sign language law passed a decade ago has “brought significant benefits” to deaf people, a Holyrood committee has said, but MSPs are “concerned” about a lack of access for young people.

The British Sign Language (Scotland) Act was passed in 2015, mandating the Scottish Government and councils to come up with plans to widen access to the language.

A new report by the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee at Holyrood has found the law has improved the lives of deaf people across the country.

But the MSPs have also stressed the need to improve the situation in schools, as well as a lack of qualified BSL interpreters in Scotland.

“It is clear that the Act has brought significant benefits to BSL users in Scotland, including increased visibility of the language, improved access to services, and greater empowerment of the deaf community,” the report said.

It added: “The committee is particularly concerned about the experiences of deaf children and young people, especially in education and early years provision, and the barriers they face in accessing their native language.

“The importance of deaf role models, qualified teachers, and inclusive learning environments cannot be overstated.

“The committee strongly agrees on the importance of providing access to the learning of BSL from an early age, both for deaf and hearing children and considers that without significantly expanding the pool of individuals with knowledge of the language, the shortage of qualified interpreters is unlikely to be resolved.”

The lack of qualified teachers and interpreters, the report added, was having a “direct impact on children’s learning”.

The report made a number of recommendations, including urging the Government to lay out how it will increase the number of teachers and what investments it will make, as well as calling for BSL to have “parity of esteem” with other minority languages like Gaelic.

Committee convener Karen Adam said the law had been “transformational”, but progress had been “uneven and substantial challenges remain”.

“For many deaf people, BSL is not an additional language but their only language,” she said.

“That’s why we want to see the Scottish Government and public bodies continue with their commitment to consulting on and improving their support for BSL users.”

A Scottish Government spokesperson said: “Everyone should be able to access services equitably and without barriers, including British Sign Language (BSL) users.

“Scotland is the only country in the UK to offer a free national Video Relay Service for Deaf and Deafblind people that enables them to access services – including health, justice, and educational services – in their own language and we will continue to engage with the BSL community to tackle barriers within these areas as well as wider society.

“Our six-year BSL National Plan sets out the actions we will take to make Scotland the best place in the world for BSL signers to live, work, learn and visit.

“Ensuring access and opportunity to learn BSL, particularly for deaf children and their families, is a key focus of the plan and we are providing over £100,000 in 2025-26 to the National Deaf Children’s society to support the delivery of improved social, educational and health outcomes for deaf children, young people and their families.”