North Wales MS and Chair of the Senedd Cross-Party Group on Deaf Issues, Mark Isherwood, has today put forward a motion highlighting the need for service providers to meet the needs of the Deaf Community.
Opening his Member’s Debate on ‘Meeting the Needs of the Deaf Community’, Mr Isherwood stressed that people with hearing loss are severely disadvantaged compared to people who have unaffected hearing.
He also emphasised that British Sign Language, BSL, is the preferred method of communication for many Deaf people, and raised concern about the decision by Qualifications Wales not to progress with a GCSE in sign language.
The Motion also called on the Welsh Government to ensure that the Disability Rights Taskforce specifically captures the issues and barriers that affect the lives of deaf people, and to have a greater involvement with the deaf community to ascertain their needs.
Speaking in the Debate, Mr Isherwood said:
“Whilst I welcomed the establishment of the Disability Rights Taskforce, its nature and terms of reference limit its work to the general rather than the specific, when Disabled people facing barriers related to their specific conditions, including Deaf people, need both.
“After last November’s announcement that the Welsh Government would establish a BSL Stakeholder Group, the new Welsh BSL Consortium of organisations representing deaf and signing people reported to me that the Welsh Government’s BSL Policy team had been approaching individuals and organisations about this, and that they all remain in support of my BSL (Wales) Bill.”
“Evidence shows that Deaf people have twice the rate of mental health problems experienced by hearing populations, yet Wales is the only UK country without a Deaf mental health service”.
Quoting the All Wales Deaf Mental Health and Wellbeing Group of academics, clinicians and experts, both Deaf and hearing, who are working with the Royal College of Psychiatrists, he said “The main issue is a lack of access to health and mental health services. Health and Care staff do not have Deaf awareness training, and do not know how to book BSL interpreters. Due to complaint services also being inaccessible, few complaints are received by health boards”.
He added:
“BSL is not just a language; it is also a gateway to learning, and the means whereby Deaf people survive and flourish in a hearing world.
“In October 2024, Qualifications Wales took the decision to suspend the development of a BSL GCSE.
“Part of the justification for the decision was that in Wales there is not a ready-made workforce of qualified teachers who could teach a GCSE in this subject. This gets to the crux of the argument of why a BSL Act in Wales is needed.
“Given the lack of BSL interpreters and translators in Wales, it is not surprising that there is also a lack of qualified teachers for a BSL GCSE.
“This goes to the heart of why BSL signers are indirectly excluded from Welsh society, through a lack of awareness of the barriers they face, and therefore a lack of proactive planning and adjustments made for Deaf people and BSL signers.
“The National Deaf Children's Society Cymru has warned that falling numbers of Teachers of the Deaf, and other issues with the Welsh Government's Additional Learning Needs reforms, is hindering deaf pupils.
He added:
“Deafness is not a learning difficulty, but deaf children are being disabled by the continuing inequity in outcome, as the gap between deaf children and their hearing peers risks becoming even wider, in breach of the Equality Act.”
“My BSL (Wales) Bill would not be a means to an end in itself, but act as a platform to ensure improved services for the deaf community and people with hearing loss, and improve the support currently offered, so people can fully engage in things like employment, health and education.”
“With a BSL Act in England and Scotland and a proposed Executive Bill in Northern Ireland, it would be a betrayal of BSL signers across Wales if a BSL Act does not come to fruition in Wales.”