British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015

The British Sign Language Act 2015 is an act of the Scottish Parliament, which legally recognises British Sign Language as a language of Scotland. It also requires the Scottish ministers to develop a "National Plan", the first of which was published on 24 October 2017.

Passage

The British Sign Language Bill was introduced to the Scottish Parliament as a private members' bill on 29 October 2014 by Mark Griffin. The Bill gained cross-party and Government support before passing its second and third reading in the Scottish Parliament without any difficulties. It received royal assent on 22 October 2015.

Legal effect

The Act legally recognises British Sign Language as a language of Scotland, a similar status to Scottish Gaelic. It requires the government and local councils to publish national plans on how the language is used in its public communications and issue guidance on promoting its usage.