British Sign Language: national plan 2023 to 2029 - easy read

1. Delivering the BSL National Plan 2023 to 2029

The BSL National Plan covers the 6 years from 2023 to 2029.

The Scottish Government commits to the actions in it and we will share what we learn so that life is better for BSL users in Scotland.

Our long-term goal – what we want to have achieved in the future

We want to make life better for BSL users by having BSL in many Scottish Government policies, plans and strategies.

This will help us to find answers to the problems faced by BSL users in their daily lives.

Actions

We will:

1. Start a BSL National Plan Implementation Advisory Group with BSL users on it.

2. Work with listed authorities and the BSL community to share what works well and to make the development of BSL local plans better.

Listed authorities are organisations that must follow the law called the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015.

3. Make inclusive communication rules to make sure listed authorities use inclusive communication when communicating with the public.

Inclusive means it works well for everyone.

Any new rules will start in 2025.

4. Develop guidance on using BSL when involving people in the community including how to make sure BSL translations are good quality.

We will share learning with our partner organisation about what works well.

5. Publish a progress report in 2026.