10 May 2022

Dear Llywydd                                                                       

Report on the Welsh Government’s Legislative Consent Memorandum on the British Sign Language Bill

Our report on the Welsh Government’s Legislative Consent Memorandum on the British Sign Language Bill was laid on 25 April.

Within our report, we note that over previous Seneddau, Members' campaigns for legislation to be introduced in the Senedd in relation to British Sign Language have received cross-party support. One of the first examples was a statement of opinion tabled in the first Senedd, and a more recent example from the final year of the fifth Senedd was a debate on a Member's Legislative Proposal for a British Sign Language Bill.

In the absence of the Welsh Government introducing primary legislation on the use of British Sign Language, we note that backbench Members have submitted proposals for Member Bills on the subject. For example, in the first Member Bill ballot of this Senedd, Mark Isherwood MS proposed a Bill with the same stated aims as noted by the Senedd in the aforementioned Member’s Legislative Proposal.

In our report, we expressed disappointment at the fact that an opportunity for a backbench Member to introduce legislation on this important subject has not arisen. This is despite there being widespread support over many Seneddau for the introduction of such a Bill. We therefore draw this to the attention of the Business Committee and suggest that it considers ways to address this problem including potentially a review of the procedure for Member Bills.

Yours sincerely,

Huw Irranca-Davies
Chair