British Sign Language gets official status after 19 years of campaigning

  • Caron Bell met members of the Centre for Deaf & Hard of Hearing people in Bristol

Deaf people in the West Country have told ITV News they hope a new law - officially recognising British Sign Language (BSL) - will make their lives easier and their community better represented.

The British Sign Language Act 2022 recognises BSL as an official language of England, Scotland and Wales - the same status afforded to Welsh and Scots Gaelic.

Under the new law, the government must promote BSL and make it easier for people to use it in their dealings with government agencies.

"You feel like they've finally recognised that we - the deaf community - actually exist and we are part of the wider community in the UK," says Paul Welton from Bristol. "We're not sidelined as a minority."

Figures from the British Deaf Association suggest 151,000 people use BSL in the UK, 87,000 of whom are deaf.

Like any other language, BSL has its own grammar structures and regional dialects.

The BSL Act is the result of 19 years of campaigning, and was introduced as a private member's bill last year by the MP Rosie Cooper, whose parents were deaf.

Disabilities Minister Chloe Smith (centre) and MP Rosie Cooper (right) at a parliamentary rally in support of the BSL Act. Credit: Stefan Rousseau/PA Wire/PA Images

Jonathan, a student at The Deaf Academy in Exeter, told ITV News: "I think there will be huge benefits and improvements for us and our quality of life. We have faced a lot of barriers but I think it will improve our confidence and so many different aspects of our lives will be changed."

  • Watch Bob Cruwys' interview with Jonathan

A key change that many deaf people would like to see is more money for more BSL interpreters, especially in public services such as the NHS.

"Continually there's problems", says Elizabeth Edgeworth from Bristol, who has often had to cancel medical appointments because of a lack of interpreters.

"Not just problems for me, but for other deaf people as well, like going to the GP.

"There's just no awareness that interpreters needed to be booked for those appointments."

Becoming an official BSL interpreter requires extensive training, often at university level. Currently there are fewer than 1000 interpreters in the UK.