“A Milestone for Equality”: Assembly Committee Concludes Landmark Scrutiny of Sign Language Bill

The Committee for Communities has concluded its scrutiny of the Sign Language Bill, marking the end of almost twelve months of intensive engagement, evidence-gathering, and legislative refinement.

The Committee has praised the Deaf community across Northern Ireland for their involvement, which has been instrumental in ensuring  the Bill is one that has the potential to deliver real change and recognition for sign language users.

Northern Ireland is soon to become the first part of these islands to pass a bi-lingual Sign Language Bill providing for users of both British Sign Language (BSL) and Irish Sign Language (ISL).

Throughout the last year, the Committee made sure people most impacted by the legislation—users of BSL and ISL—were at the heart of the process. This included:

• Running an event with the Deaf Community to familiarise them with Parliament Buildings and demystify the work that takes place within it, running events to communicate with the community about the Bill itself and to engage with groups of children and the DeafBlind Community - all to enhance the Committee’s scrutiny of the Bill.
• Enabling sign language users to submit evidence in their first language via video which was then translated for the Committee.
• Ensuring live signed evidence was possible through live interpreting along with post meeting interpreting where appropriate.

The Committee’s rigorous approach has resulted in significant improvements to the Bill after it was introduced by the Department

Key achievements include:

• Raising the age of young people who can access sign language classes from under 19 to under 25.
• Making sure any organisation which is added or removed from the list of organisations which need to adhere to the new law  and  any new rules about how teachers and interpreters are accredited are now able to be scrutinised more rigorously by the Assembly
• Making sure that the Department must consult with more that only ‘one person or group’ from the Deaf community when it is implementing various parts of the Bill
• Making sure that any report about the impact of the new law is laid before the Assembly for scrutiny, and
• That rather than a report being produced every 5 years, the initial report would be completed after 5 years to allow for the law to be embedded, but subsequent reports would be every 3 years.

Colm Gildernew MLA, Chairperson of the Committee for Communities, said: “While the Department initiated the Bill, the Committee’s work serves as a powerful reminder of the vital scrutiny role of the Committee. Through its intervention, the Committee has ensured the final legislation is more inclusive and fit for purpose.

"This Bill belongs to the Deaf community. For too long, their views have been sidelined, but in the development of the Bill and over the last year, they have been the most powerful in our Committee room. We have scrutinised, supported and advised the Department on its original Bill and together we have produced legislation that can truly change lives."

ENDS