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British Sign Language National Plan

– in the Scottish Parliament at on 9 November 2023.

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Photo of Karen Adam Karen Adam Scottish National Party

I was delighted to see the new and updated British Sign Language action plan released this past week. I thank the First Minister for his help and support with my continued work in the area. How will the plan support British Sign Language use in Scotland?

Photo of Humza Yousaf Humza Yousaf Scottish National Party

I think that all members in the chamber will recognise the incredible work that Karen Adam has done on British Sign Language. I pay tribute to her efforts in that regard.

We are absolutely committed to making Scotland the best place in the world for British Sign Language users to visit and to live, work and learn in. The “British Sign Language National Plan 2023-29” contains 45 actions to help us to meet that ambition. We recognise that, to deliver our aims, we need to ensure that the BSL community is at the very heart of the decision-making process. That is why we are establishing an implementation advisory group to support the plan, hold us to account and inform our thinking in the delivery of each action.

The group will be made up of organisations that represent BSL users, the deaf and the deafblind community. It is important to note that the plan is not static and will continue to evolve to ensure that our actions tackle the barriers that BSL users face in their everyday lives.

Minister

Ministers make up the Government and almost all are members of the House of Lords or the House of Commons. There are three main types of Minister. Departmental Ministers are in charge of Government Departments. The Government is divided into different Departments which have responsibilities for different areas. For example the Treasury is in charge of Government spending. Departmental Ministers in the Cabinet are generally called 'Secretary of State' but some have special titles such as Chancellor of the Exchequer. Ministers of State and Junior Ministers assist the ministers in charge of the department. They normally have responsibility for a particular area within the department and are sometimes given a title that reflects this - for example Minister of Transport.