British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 - recommendations: SG response

2. Summary of our Response

1. The Committee put forward forty-four recommendations. These recommendations were focused on key areas such as the BSL National Plan 2023-29, Authority Plans (referred to as BSL local plans), accountability and monitoring, education and access to work, healthcare, transport and rural access, and Contact Scotland BSL.

2. For each Committee recommendation, we have set out the Scottish Government’s response and a brief rationale of our decision. Our responses fall into four types:

Accept

The recommendation is within devolved competence, aligns with Scottish Government policy objectives set out within the BSL National Plan 2023-29, and is achievable.

Partially accept

We agree in principle, but not to the full extent proposed by the Committee.

Consider further

Additional analysis is required to understand the recommendation’s impact or cost before a final decision is made.

Decline

The recommendation does not align with Scottish Government policy objectives or is not deliverable.

3. A summary of our decisions is below:

4. Overall, this means we have accepted, either in full or in part 40 of the 44 recommendations. We will consider 3 recommendations further and reach a conclusive decision by November 2026 once further analysis has taken place. We have declined one recommendation as this is not within the remit of the Scottish Government to respond to.

5. The next phase of activity is to consider implementation of the recommendations as part of our ongoing work to deliver the BSL National Plan 2023-2029.

Scottish Government response to the Committee recommendations