Sign Language Week Day 2

The BSL Act!

The British Sign Language Act 2022 was a long-awaited piece of legislation for the Deaf community in the United Kingdom; a landmark law set to recognise BSL as an official language in the UK and provide more support for the Deaf community.

As it’s Sign Language Week, for this blog post we wanted to take a quick look at what the act is, and what it means for us as we strive to Protect, Preserve and Promote BSL.

The History

The UK government recognised BSL as a language in its own right back in 2003, but it wasn't until 2015 that BSL was officially recognised as a language, and that was only in Scotland! In 2018, the UK government published its first BSL National Plan, which aimed to improve access to services and opportunities for BSL users.

In 2020, a private member's bill called the ‘British Sign Language (BSL) Bill’ was introduced to the UK Parliament. The bill proposed to give BSL full legal recognition as an official language of the UK, and require the government to promote and facilitate the use of BSL. The bill received cross-party support and was eventually passed into law as the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2021 by the Scottish Parliament.

What is the BSL Act 2022?

The BSL Act 2022 is a piece of legislation that aims to recognise British Sign Language as an official language in the UK. The act was passed in the UK Parliament in March 2022.

The act will provide legal recognition to BSL, which means that public bodies will have a duty to promote and facilitate the use of BSL.

Why is the BSL Act 2022 important?

The BSL Act 2022 is a significant milestone from a legal stand point as well as by promoting its use in public life. It will help raise awareness of the language and the Deaf community, and encourage more people to learn BSL.

The act will also provide additional support for the Deaf community. Remark! know the barriers Deaf people often face in accessing services and information, and the BSL Act 2022 will require public bodies to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that Deaf people can access these services and information in BSL.

The BSL Act 2022 will have a huge positive impact on education. Deaf children often struggle in mainstream education, and the act will promote the use of BSL in schools and provide support for Deaf children to learn and achieve more.

So what are the key provisions of the BSL Act 2022?

They include:

Legal recognition of BSL as an official language in the UK.
A duty on public bodies to promote and facilitate the use of BSL.
A duty on public bodies to provide access to services and information in BSL.
A duty on public bodies to make reasonable adjustments to ensure that deaf people are not discriminated against.
A duty on public bodies to produce and publish BSL plans.
A duty on public bodies to consult with the deaf community on matters relating to BSL.

As you can see, the BSL Act 2022 is an essential part of protecting, preserving and promoting BSL. Remark! are excited to support and champion the Act, and are working to ensure all that was promised by the government, is delivered.

Well that was a lot of information! I think it’s time for some entertainment. Let’s see our next video shall we!

We have teamed up with Signature Deaf to help you become a BSL Ally with us! We have two videos and two prizes up for grabs.

Learn signs for your favourite school subjects and post the video of your favourite subject below, tagging us and Signature Deaf with the hashtag #RemarkSignatureSLW to be in with the chance of winning a £30 amazon voucher!

This competition will run until Sunday 19th of March, with the winners being announced on Monday 20th March.