6. Presiding Officer, for the record, I will ask my question first in spoken English and then in signed and spoken British Sign Language, to raise awareness.

To ask the First Minister, in light of this being deaf awareness week, what work the Scottish Government is undertaking to ensure that deaf people have their communication needs met. (S6F-02068)

I will now ask the question in BSL.

I thank Karen Adam for the question and recognise the incredible work that she has done to raise awareness of the issues of deaf people. A number of weeks ago, I had the great pleasure of meeting her father, who has also been an advocate and a champion for raising issues around deaf awareness and BSL, and for the use of BSL in particular.

I also wish all those who are marking deaf awareness week all the very best for the awareness-raising activity and events that I know are planned.

Since 2014, we have provided over £5.5 million to promote the implementation of the see hear strategy. A refreshed strategy for 2024 will be designed collaboratively with stakeholders and, importantly and crucially, with people who have lived experience. It will be focused on living a good life with sensory loss. Of course, communication plays a key and vital role in that.

For BSL users, the Scottish Government funds Contact Scotland BSL, which enables deaf and deafblind British Sign Language users to telephone any number, via video relay interpreters, 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

We are investing in two technological solutions to improve communication for deaf people through our CivTech programme: a centralised booking system for BSL/English interpreters, and, crucially, an online concierge service that enables access to public services.

I am a CODA, which is a child of a deaf adult, and I grew up learning BSL alongside English. The importance of the right to be understood in one’s own language cannot be understated. The deaf community deserves to feel included, but BSL provision across Scotland can be a postcode lottery. In Scotland, we pride ourselves on being a progressive nation. On BSL, however, we must go further and faster.

Will the First Minister commit to providing a space where stakeholders and I can highlight to the Scottish Government what we must do to protect the future of our precious minority language in Scotland?

The First Minister:

Yes, I can absolutely commit to that. Once again, I thank Karen Adam for the incredible work that she has done in her time in Parliament and before that to raise issues that are affecting our deaf community in Scotland.

We have established a short-life working group for the development of the British Sign Language national plan for 2023 to 2029, which is due to be published in October. The national plan will provide a real opportunity to advance our approach to BSL. We will also establish an implementation governance group, for when the national plan has been published, to ensure that we can deliver on those commitments.

I am clear that I expect stakeholders to be fully involved in this work, particularly those with direct lived experience. The Cabinet Secretary for Education and Skills will be happy to meet Karen Adam to explore those issues in more detail.

The Presiding Officer:

We move to constituency and general supplementaries.