An overview of a law to improve the use of British Sign Language, its progress through the Senedd and subordinate legislation.
Contents
British Sign Language version of this page
Overview
The British Sign Language (Wales) Act 2026 (“the 2026 Act”) establishes a new framework to support and encourage the use of British Sign Language (BSL) in Wales.
The Act:
- requires the Welsh Ministers to promote and facilitate the use of BSL
- places duties on the Welsh Ministers to prepare and publish a National BSL Strategy that describes how they intend to promote and facilitate the use of BSL, and how they intend to encourage certain public bodies listed in the 2026 Act to do so
- requires the Welsh Ministers to issue guidance to listed public bodies about how they may promote and facilitate the use of BSL
- places duties on listed public bodies to prepare and publish BSL plans that describe how they intend to promote and facilitate the use of BSL in exercising their functions, and follow the guidance issued by the Welsh Ministers
- requires the Welsh Ministers to appoint a BSL adviser and members of a panel to assist the adviser
- places reporting duties on both listed public bodies and the Welsh Ministers to report on progress made
The Explanatory Notes to the 2026 Act provide more detail about the operation of the Act:
- British Sign Language (Wales) Act 2026: Explanatory Notes (BSL version) on YouTube
- British Sign Language (Wales) Act 2026: Explanatory Notes on legislation.gov.uk
Read the Act:
Coming into force
Section 11 provides that the whole of the Act comes into force on the day after the day it receives royal assent. The Act came into force on 28 April 2026:
Subordinate legislation made under the act
No subordinate legislation has been made under the Act. This page will be updated if and when such legislation is made.
Consideration of the legislation by the Senedd
The bill was introduced to the Senedd on 14 July 2025 by Mark Isherwood MS, as Member in charge. It was passed by the Senedd on 11 March 2026 and received Royal Assent on 27 April 2026.
More information about the Act and the Bill’s passage through the Senedd on senedd.wales.
An explanatory memorandum was originally prepared for consideration by the Senedd alongside the bill. This has now been revised and updated to reflect the final form of the 2026 Act: