Iaith Arwyddion Prydain

25 March 2022

Dear

Information requested

Thank you for your request, which we received on 12 March 2022. In your email, you requested the following information under the Freedom of Information Act;

1. A copy of the British Deaf Association's audit linked to British Sign Language and deaf people.
2. Any correspondence or minutes in the Welsh Government which follows on from this BSL audit.
3. Separately, any documentation the Welsh Government holds on the possibility of legislation or regulations in respect of a British Sign Language.  Either on the implications of the current passage of the BSL Bill going through Westminster or the discussion or meetings of any proposals for separate law relating to British Sign Language in Wales.           

Our response

The British Deaf Association (BDA) are discussing the findings of the audit with Welsh Government officials before submitting a finalised report. Therefore, we do not hold a copy of the finished report.  It is envisaged that the development of this work will be taken forward as part of the early programme of work of the Disability Rights Taskforce.  This will allow us to align the recommendations of the BSL Audit report to the work of the Taskforce.

As the BSL report has not yet been finalised, there is no correspondence or documented minutes that would follow on from this BSL audit and as such, there is no information to provide.

In regards to your third request, the information that you have requested is too broad and covers all areas of government. From my preliminary assessment, I estimate that it will cost more than the appropriate limit set out in the Freedom of Information and Data Protection (Appropriate Limit and Fees) Regulations 2004 to answer your request.  The appropriate limit specified for central government is £600. This represents the estimated cost of it taking over 24 hours of time to determine whether we hold the information and to thereafter locate, retrieve and extract it. 

To get the information that you have requested would require seeking advice from across the whole of the Welsh Government in order to identify what information is held by which departments, and to collate that information.   

You may wish to refine your request by narrowing its scope by being more specific about what information you particularly wish to obtain, including any dates or periods of time relevant to the information required.  If you do refine your request in this way, this will be treated as a new request.

It may also be that a FoI request is not the most appropriate method of getting the answers you seek. The FoI Act only provides a right to what we hold as recorded information. That is we are only required to provide you with the recorded information we hold at the time of your request. It may be simpler and easier if you were just to ask questions to which we could provide a narrative response – that is to draft a response to specifically answer those questions you may have.

To assist you in focusing your request, please find below links to information on what Welsh Government has done and is currently doing to promote BSL in Wales;

• The Locked Out: Liberating disabled people’s lives and rights in Wales beyond COVID-19 report
• Curriculum for Wales framework guidance (Welsh Government - Curriculum for Wales guidance: British sign language
• The non-statutory curriculum guidance for BSL
• BSL video for children, young people and families about the Curriculum for Wales and BSL in the Curriculum
• The Additional Learning Needs Code (ALN-Code)
• Additional learning needs (ALN) system: parents’ guide
• Independent Review of BSL for Adults in Wales
• The Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014
• Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 - Part 2 Code of Practice
• Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014 - Part 4 Code of Practice (Meeting Needs)
• All Wales Standards for Accessible Communication
• All Wales Standards for Accessible Communication and Information for People with Sensory Loss

Next steps

If you are dissatisfied with the Welsh Government’s handling of your request, you can ask for an internal review within 40 working days of the date of this response.  Requests for an internal review should be addressed to the Welsh Government’s Freedom of Information Officer at:

Information Rights Unit, 
Welsh Government, 
Cathays Park, 
Cardiff, 
CF10 3NQ 

or Email: Freedom.ofinformation@gov.wales

Please remember to quote the ATISN reference number above.   

You also have the right to complain to the Information Commissioner.  The Information Commissioner can be contacted at: 

Information Commissioner’s Office, 
Wycliffe House, 
Water Lane, 
Wilmslow, 
Cheshire, 
SK9 5AF.

However, please note that the Commissioner will not normally investigate a complaint until it has been through our own internal review process.

Yours sincerely