British Sign Language National Plan: FOI release

Information requested

1. Where has the Scottish Government published the review of the British Sign Language National Plan as per the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015?

2. How did the Scottish Government involve the 12,533 BSL users in Scotland in this review?

3. How much has the Scottish Government spent on the review of the BSL National Plan?

4. What plans has the Scottish Government to update the BSL National Plan and publish this update?

5. When will the Scottish Government publish the evaluation of the work of the BSL (Scotland) Act 2015 Partnership to show the learning from funding such a partnership for the future?

Response

1. The Scottish Government has not yet published the British Sign Language Progress Report. This was due in October 2020; however, due to the COVID-19 emergency the publication of the Progress Report has now been delayed by a year. 

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

2. Engagement was due to take place in person at a number of deaf clubs and venues across Scotland, and through the BSL Partnership organisations with various communities and groups. This engagement has been postponed due to the on-going COVID-19 emergency but engagement will be re-planned to feed into the review once it is safe to do so and ahead of publication of the deferred report.

3. The Scottish Government has not incurred additional expenditure in preparing a BSL Progress Report.

4. Any update or changes to the BSL National Plan will be included within the BSL Progress Report when it is published. 

5. No formal evaluation has been undertaken of the work of the Partnership and there are no plans for this in the future. The work of the Partnership is managed and reviewed on a regular basis by the fund managers, Impact Funding Partners, and learning is shared with the Scottish Government on an ongoing basis.

This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at http://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.