Thank you, Deputy Presiding Officer. And thank you to Mark Isherwood for bringing forward this Member debate—I know it's something that you've long taken an interest in.

I am very aware of how important this issue is and the importance of ensuring full and equal access to services and information for British Sign Language signers here in Wales. As Mark Isherwood said, back in 2004, Welsh Government recognised BSL as a language of Wales. The Welsh Government is committed to improving the lives of disabled people. We recently commissioned and welcomed an audit of BSL policies and provision within Welsh Government, published by the British Deaf Association. Welsh Government recognises the need to take a fully intersectional approach to the audit’s recommendations and to considering how they can be implemented in the most effective way.

We are making provisions to promote and facilitate the use of BSL and its tactile forms in Wales, and to remove barriers and improve access to education, health and public services in Wales. Progress is being made. Wales is the first country in the UK to include BSL alongside English, Welsh and other languages in the curriculum. This supports learning and teaching for deaf BSL signers, as well as providing an opportunity for schools to introduce BSL to other learners. We were the first Government in the UK to ensure that our COVID-19 press conferences included the presence of a BSL/English interpreter.

Progress will lead to real and sustainable change. We acknowledge the importance of deaf BSL signers having a voice in the design and delivery of services, to ensure their linguistic and cultural needs are met. Our disability rights taskforce brings together people with lived experience, Welsh Government policy leads, and representative organisations. The taskforce's 10 thematic working groups have over 550 group members, including disabled people, parents and carers, and policy leads. We have been looking at every aspect of disabled people's lives, and aim to remove the inequities and barriers that disabled people face every day. Our working group recommendations show how crucial BSL is to inclusion and equality in Wales.

The taskforce is continuing to raise awareness across Government of the damaging effects on society of excluding disabled people. The upcoming disability action plan will put equality and inclusion firmly at the centre of our vision for Wales, and show how, together, we can transform society from a hostile environment to a place where difference is welcomed. Changing society’s perception and behaviour through policy is challenging. The disability rights taskforce is seeking to create genuine and long-term positive change for disabled people, through a co-produced plan, which will support progress towards ensuring that disabled people have access to the services they need right across Wales.

Welsh Government is committed to improving healthcare services in Wales, and improving provision for deaf BSL signers is a priority. Achieving the well-being of future generations goals must leave no-one behind. Across all Wales’s well-being goals, the experience of deaf people shows that more can be done, so that they can access employment opportunities, maximise their physical and mental well-being, recognising the unique deaf culture, and that they fulfil their potential.

Anti-discrimination and anti-oppression are at the heart of Welsh Government’s values. We seek to challenge and overcome institutional and individual prejudice and challenge social injustice. We have much to learn from deaf BSL signers from Wales, to learn and understand their history and continued fight for equality and representation.

The British Sign Language Act 2022 was adopted and supported by the UK Government. It has implications in Wales for non-devolved areas. However, we know that this does not go far enough. A collaborative and inclusive approach is more effective than legislation, which often does not go far enough and does not engage the right people. But whilst I fully appreciate the intention behind this proposed Bill, I do not think it is needed. We can, and have, made significant progress without a Bill. The Welsh Government did not need a BSL Bill to include BSL in the curriculum, or to ensure we have BSL/English interpreters at Welsh Government press conferences. We can, and we will, use policy levers to create effective change and equality.

I want to use our resources to make more direct and immediate positive changes for BSL users. We can, and we will, continue to work in partnership with deaf BSL signers, and also key partner organisations from Wales, to break down barriers and work in collaboration towards an equal Wales. We can, and we will, work together to create effective change. Working together, we can be the change that we want to see. Wales’s unique structure makes us able to collaborate and drive change in ways that others can’t. We are closer to our citizens, and they can tell us directly what they need. And I will be very happy to meet with you, Mark, to talk further around this, and also I am very interested in the discussions that you've had with the organisations that you referred to in your opening speech.

Wales is a country of pride, a country of inclusion, and a country of social justice. Equity and inclusion need linguistic justice—of Welsh, and of BSL. Welsh Government is committed to the deaf BSL-using community of Wales. Diolch.