To ask the Scottish Government what its position is on whether British Sign Language receives parity of treatment with Gaelic within its languages portfolio, in light of evidence given by stakeholders to the Equalities, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee, as part of its inquiry into the British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015, that, although BSL plans are delivered locally by listed authorities, strong national co-ordination, oversight and dedicated funding are still essential if the aims of the act are to be met. (S6O-05061)

The Scottish Government recognises BSL as one of Scotland’s languages. Since the BSL (Scotland) Act 2015 came into force 10 years ago, Scotland has been the first country to implement a free national video relay service for BSL users and, with the new service, we will pilot the use of video remote interpreting for the first time.

The Education (Scotland) Act 2025 places a statutory duty on Qualifications Scotland to

“have regard for the needs and interests of ... those who are receiving, or wish to receive”

education through both BSL and Gaelic, across its functions. We will continue to work with the BSL community and its representative organisations to focus on improving outcomes for BSL users in Scotland, including through the “British Sign Language National Plan 2023-29”.

Deaf women are more than twice as likely as hearing women to experience domestic abuse. In the north-east, local stakeholders report that BSL services remain seriously underresourced, with limited interpreting capacity and little dedicated funding for specialist support. Given that Gaelic and BSL are both the Deputy First Minister’s responsibility, does she accept that that failure of national co-ordination and investment has left deaf women in particular at greater risk, and that equality means nothing without the resources to make it real?

I thank Tess White for that question. At the top of my answer, I say that I would be happy to engage with any of Tess White’s constituents and any deaf women in her Constituency who have raised those matters, because the statistic that she references is one that requires us to sit up and take notice.

There are several routes to improving BSL provision. Tess White will be aware of the new service that we have been piloting for video remote interpreting. She will also be aware of SignPort, the new app that has been launched with Scottish Government funding, which will develop interpreter booking facilities to make them easier to use.

The third thing that I want to highlight is the importance of local BSL plans. Tess White talked specifically about the north-east, although I imagine that the statistic that she gave applies right across the country. It is important to make sure that local plans are robust. We have recently awarded one-year funding and an in-principle commitment to year 2 funding for a BSL network to share best practice and advice with listed authorities on the delivery of their local plans. That will ensure that, in her own constituency area, there is a plan that is robust and can deliver the services that are required.