Written question asked by Jim Cunningham (Labour) on Wednesday, 8 May 2002, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Tuesday, 14 May 2002. It was answered by Maria Eagle (Labour) on Tuesday, 14 May 2002 on behalf of the Department for Work and Pensions.

Dept for Work and Pensions

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what plans he has to recognise British Sign Language as a language in its own right.

Answer: Mr. Jim Cunningham: To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions what plans he has to recognise British Sign Language as a language in its own right. [55337] Maria Eagle: There have been calls for the Government to recognise British Sign Language by specifying it under the Council of Europe's Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. Advice is that the charter was not intended to cover indigenous sign languages. However, the Council's Parliamentary Assembly has called on the Council to give sign languages used in Europe a protection similar to that afforded by the charter. The Council is currently considering how that might be done and the Government will respond to any proposals in due course.

Secondary information