Meeting of the Parliament 11 December 2025
Yes, it has a knock-on effect within the family unit, and it is vitally important that individuals are given the opportunity. If that opportunity does not exist, there will be a lack of communication and a lack of cohesion in the family unit, and it can sometimes cause disturbance and distraction.
Another issue relates to teachers of the deaf being qualified to BSL level 3. It is vital that we have those qualified teachers working in the classroom.
It is important that the Scottish Government addresses those issues by establishing a pipeline of qualified interpreters, BSL teachers and classroom support services.
However, many of the issues begin long before a child enters formal education. As we have heard, there are also numerous problems when deaf children are progressing through early years education. Deaf children have limited opportunities to learn BSL in their early years, and witnesses highlighted to the committee that some children are beginning nursery without any meaningful language skills. It is tragic that some individuals are going into that environment without those skills and finding themselves at a disadvantage.
Deaf support workers, including specialist support workers for supported living, play a key part in addressing that challenge. Those workers carry out important work in engaging with deaf children from a very early age, giving them a positive attitude and supporting them on their path.
If the SNP fails to address those challenges in early years education, it will only create further challenges for young deaf people in their experience of education further down the road. As the committee highlighted, we cannot have a situation in which some deaf children are starting nursery or school with next to no knowledge of their native language.
The committee’s report also highlights that deaf people face particular challenges in rural settings; we have heard about that today from some members who represent rural communities, where BSL services are harder to access. Rural councils often lack deaf clubs and specialist opportunities, and they may not have the resources to identify and support deaf individuals. The Scottish Government must listen to the committee’s recommendations on that issue in order to close the opportunity gap between deaf people in rural communities and those living in the central belt.
While the Scottish Government appears to have accepted the need for positive change, we have to ensure that it remains focused on the recommendations to ensure that there is a shift towards delivering what is required. For example, with regard to the shortage of interpreters, we still have no clear timescales and no workforce strategy that reflects the seriousness of the challenges. As I said, in order to support individuals, we must address isolation and lack of access in rural areas by ensuring access to deaf clubs and improving digital provision.
All those things play a part, and it is vitally important that we look across all the recommendations. We heard from public bodies about how they can be supported to promote BSL effectively. There may be good intentions from the Government, but we need to ensure that what follows is about more than just good will.
In dealing with this issue, one goal should be to ensure that the deaf generation of today does not have to struggle as past deaf generations did. Deaf individuals speak about feeling like second-class citizens, struggling to find meaningful employment and feeling that they are unable to fulfil their true potential. We also heard today about difficulties faced in health services and how deaf people can be affected as a result.
In conclusion, the SNP Government should take the committee’s report as an important reminder of those issues and ensure that the 2015 act can finally live up to its full potential so that individuals are given the respect and the opportunities that they need. They want to see from us a recognition of what they have achieved so far, and of what we should be achieving on their behalf.
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