British Sign Language (BSL) route map: Welsh language impact assessment

Cymraeg 2050 is our national strategy for increasing the number of Welsh speakers to a million by 2050.

The Welsh Government is fully committed to the new strategy, with the target of a million speakers included in its Programme for Government. A thriving Welsh language is also included in one of the 7 well-being goals in the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

We also have a statutory obligation to fully consider the effects of our work on the Welsh language. This means that any Welsh Government policy should consider how our policies affect the language and those who speak it.

The Cymraeg 2050 strategy has 3 interrelated themes.

Theme 1: increasing the number of Welsh speakers

• Language transmission in the family.
• The early years.
• Statutory education.
• Post-compulsory education.
• The education workforce, resources and qualifications.

Theme 2: increasing the use of Welsh

• The workplace.
• Services.
• Social use of Welsh.

Theme 3: creating favourable conditions (infrastructure and context)

• Community and economy.
• Culture and media.
• Wales and the wider world.
• Digital technology.
• Linguistic infrastructure.
• Language planning.
• Evaluation and research.

Both the Welsh language strategy and the BSL route map demonstrate a shared commitment to advancing linguistic equality and inclusion throughout Wales.

The route map will represent the first steps toward realising our ambition of creating a Wales that respects, promotes and facilitates BSL, through short-term actions to be completed within 18 months. These actions will lay the groundwork for future policies and strategy, to create lasting change and greater inclusion for deaf BSL signers.

The BSL route map has been informed by the short-term recommendations produced by the BSL Stakeholder Task and Finish Group.

Our vision for Wales is to build a society that empowers the deaf BSL signing community, and to create a Wales that promotes equitable access and which promotes, facilitates and values BSL as a vital part of Welsh society.

The BSL route map recognises BSL as a language in its own right. British Sign Language (BSL) is the first or preferred language of the deaf community in Wales, with its own linguistic identity and rich cultural heritage. BSL is a distinct language with unique grammar, syntax, and vocabulary.

In developing recommendations to help inform the BSL Route map, the BSL Stakeholder Task and Finish Group have regularly discussed Welsh language alongside BSL. The group has regularly considered how the Welsh language is promoted and facilitated across Wales and where lessons can be learned in the context of BSL.

The BSL route map recognises BSL alongside Welsh and English. By fostering a culture of respect and recognition, the BSL route map seeks to ensure that BSL is embraced as an integral part of Wales’s linguistic and cultural landscape.

The BSL group has consistently highlighted the importance of preserving regional variations of BSL, including Welsh dialects. This principle is embedded in Welsh Government’s approach to policy and procurement, ensuring that BSL is treated as a living language shaped by community, identity and history. Stakeholders have also noted the importance of preserving and celebrating Welsh deaf identity and culture, in addition to respecting Welsh dialectal richness.

Welsh Government BSL policy officials have liaised with Welsh Government Cymraeg 2025 policy officials, to discuss the links between the work in developing the BSL route map and the Welsh language strategies. Welsh language colleagues have welcomed the recognition of Welsh regional dialects of BSL within Wales and have offered further insight.

The BSL route map is for all deaf BSL signers across Wales. Although the BSL route map and its actions do not directly link with the Welsh Government’s strategy for Welsh language (Cymraeg 2025), in developing and delivering the BSL route map Welsh Government will fully consider the impact of its actions on the Welsh language. All materials and documents have been produced in line with Welsh language requirements and duties.

There has been no identified conflict or negative impact between the proposal and actions within the BSL route map and Welsh language policies and strategies. The proposals will not affect the sustainability of Welsh speaking communities of Welsh medium education and Welsh learners of any age. We aim for Welsh, BSL and English to flourish alongside each other as part of Wales’ diverse linguistic landscape.

There may be additional positive impacts from some of the actions within the route map, and as a result of having multiple recognised languages in Wales. This is set out further below. 

BSL interpreters

The BSL Stakeholder Task and Finish Group discussed the limited capacity of interpreters and translators across Wales. This is supported by existing research and data, as laid out in the Equality Impact Assessment. The group considered trilingual BSL/English/Welsh interpreters and translators across Welsh public services, such as healthcare. It was highlighted that there is an even greater limited capacity of BSL/Welsh interpreters and translators, which presents barriers for deaf BSL signers who need to access BSL and Welsh.

The group considered that BSL/Welsh interpreting and translation is not currently registered against set standards, such as by National Registers of Communication Professionals working with deaf and deafblind People (NRCPD) who are the leading voluntary regulator for language service professionals in the UK.

These discussions and themes are reflected in the recommendations produced by the BSL Stakeholder Group. The group produced a long-term recommendation in relation to standards for BSL/Welsh interpretation and translation, and in relation to the BSL interpreting and translation workforce.

Education

The BSL Stakeholder Task and Finish Group produced a short-term recommendation in relation to mapping BSL provision within early years, which highlights the importance of BSL provision for deaf children and babies. Stakeholder group discussions considered that many deaf babies and children in Wales experience language deprivation early in life due to inconsistent and delayed BSL provision. An academic policy paper ‘Adopting British Sign Language in dead education: lessons from Welsh and Gaelic’ considers links to the Welsh language and notes that early language acquisition is crucial for cognitive development. Without strong first-language skills such as BSL, learning a second language like Welsh may become much harder.

There is a considerable amount of research in relation to language barriers within education and schools, and the impacts on deaf BSL signers. A summary is provided in both the Children’s Rights Impact Assessment and the Equality Impact Assessment. A lack of BSL provision within education can negatively impact children’s educational attainment.

In relation to the education workforce, research has indicated that there is a shortage of professionals working in deaf education, with 16% having no formal BSL qualifications and only 1% with the highest fluency level.(The Consortium of Research in Deaf Education’s Wales 2023). This limits access to Welsh-medium education for deaf BSL signers and makes bilingual BSL/Welsh teaching models difficult to implement across Wales.

Similarly, interpreter shortages can mean deaf children and their families often cannot access Welsh-medium classes effectively, and there are few teachers trained to deliver Welsh language education to deaf BSL signers.

The group have produced the following recommendation in relation to the education workforce:

• BSL capability within the education workforce: as part of the implementation of the Strategic Education Workforce Plan, the Welsh Government to work with partners to develop an understanding of how many existing school practitioners and local authority advisory teachers can sign BSL, to ensure sufficient provision to develop the BSL ability of practitioners for the future.

Information about deaf BSL signers and BSL, is often not recorded. This means there is no consensus on the total number of deaf BSL signers in the UK which has led to wide variations in the available estimates. This also means there is a lack of data in relation to deaf BSL signers and the Welsh language. One of the recommendations produced by the group addresses the need for the Welsh Government to explore what barriers exist when collecting and collating BSL data, to inform any future statistics data collection.

The short-term actions within the route map are intended as a starting point, to underpin the pathway for future policy development across Welsh Government and to begin the journey to achieving our overall vision. Our aim is to is to promote and raise awareness of BSL, and to encourage greater understanding, visibility, and inclusion across all areas of Welsh society and within Welsh public services.

There are no foreseen negative impacts as a result of the proposals and actions outlined within the BSL route map. Where there is potential for negative impacts identified throughout the delivery of the route map and by the group, Welsh Government will review and develop actions to mitigate any negative impacts identified, where appropriate and proportionate to do so.

Following the completion of the work of the BSL Stakeholder Task and Finish Group, the group has reconvened under a new Terms of Reference, to support the delivery of the route map and the implementation of the short-term actions.