Senedd Cymru | Welsh Parliament
Bil Aelod Arfaethedig – Mark Isherwood AS | Proposed Member Bill - Mark Isherwood MS
Datblygu'r Bil Iaith Arwyddion Prydain (BSL) (Cymru) | Development of the British Sign Language (BSL) (Wales) Bill
Ymateb gan: Gofal a Thrwsio Cymru | Evidence from: Care & Repair Cymru
Care & Repair are Wales’ older people’s housing champions. We help our clients to live independently in warm, safe, accessible homes by delivering housing adaptations and home improvements. We offer a holistic casework service including a whole house assessment taken from a national framework, including a falls risk assessment, welfare benefits check and home safety information and advice. In 2023-24 we delivered the following:
· 67,606 services delivered to help older people helped to stay independent at home.
· 19,023 Rapid Response Adaptations to prevent accidents at home.
· Completed 60,258 jobs in the home to a value of £21.8 million.
· Helped clients claim £12.5 million in unclaimed benefits. [1]
Our Managing Better service[2], which we deliver in partnership with RNIB Cymru, RNID, Alzheimer’s Society Cymru, and Stroke Association Wales, provides specialised advice and practical help for people over the age of 50 who have hearing loss, sight loss, dementia, or have had a stroke. Since Managing Better was launched in 2016, we have delivered the following:
· 19,418 people helped by the project, 69% of which have sight or hearing loss.
· 12,306 practical works completed to support safe and independent living.
· 3,292 people helped with enabling technology to support wellbeing and keep our clients connected with their loved ones, their community and the world around them.
· 4,759 people referred for preventative intervention through Heath & Social Care channels.
The British Sign Language Act 2022 requires the UK Government to issue guidance about the promotion and facilitation of the use of British Sign Language (BSL). This however only applies in England and not to the Welsh Government or public bodies in Wales such as councils or the NHS. The British Sign Language (BSL) (Wales) Bill aims to place equivalent specific duties on the Welsh Government and public bodies in Wales.
Based on our experiences of our Managing Better project working with clients who use BSL, we certainly consider that there is a need to promote and facilitate the use of BSL to reduce barriers for D/deaf clients. Given that the British Sign Language Act 2022 only applies in England, we agree that it is important to introduce legislation that places equivalent specific duties on the Welsh Government and public bodies in Wales to ensure that BSL users in Wales are not at a disadvantage compared to England.
Agree. We support the Bill’s fundamental goal to remove the barriers that exist for D/deaf people and their families. We have practical experience of some of the extensive barriers that D/deaf people and their families face, which we discuss further in our response to Question 9.
The Bill’s goals of ensuring that people who use BSL are not treated less favourably than those who speak Welsh or English is vital, along with the goal of ensuring that D/deaf communities have a voice in the design and delivery of services to ensure they meet their needs.
Yes – we consider that promoting and facilitating the use of BSL would help to reduce the barriers that BSL users face in communicating their needs and accessing the support they require. In addition, we anticipate that normalising the use of BSL would assist in improving public attitudes towards BSL users. In a recent survey by RNID, 82% of BSL users agreed that there is still a stigma towards deaf people and people with hearing loss, and 90% of BSL users say they have experienced negative attitudes or behaviours in the past 12 months. However, this research also identified that over half of the general public would like to learn basic words and phrases in BSL, and a further 41% would like information about how to communicate well with BSL users, showing that there is appetite from the general public to communicate better with BSL users.
We feel that these questions would be best answered by people with lived experience of using BSL, in line with the Bill’s expressed intention to ensure that D/deaf communities have a voice in the design and delivery of services to ensure they meet their needs.
We feel that these questions would be best answered by people with lived experience of using BSL, in line with the Bill’s expressed intention to ensure that D/deaf communities have a voice in the design and delivery of services to ensure they meet their needs.
We feel that these questions would be best answered by people with lived experience of using BSL, in line with the Bill’s expressed intention to ensure that D/deaf communities have a voice in the design and delivery of services to ensure they meet their needs.
As above, we feel that deaf communities would be best placed to answer this question.
Strongly Agree. At Care & Repair we strongly believe that our clients are best placed to tell us what they need. Our approach is based on doing with rather than for our clients. We put this into practice as part of our Managing Better service by speaking to clients from the start to ensure that all our interventions are based on effective communication, to provide bespoke, individually tailored solutions, and ensure our clients have helped to design and co-produce the services they receive. As a result, in a survey of our clients 94% of clients felt that the service provided had improved their quality of life and 70% said that their living accommodation better suited their individual needs.
D/deaf communities having a formalised voice in the design and delivery of the public services that they use would make sense not just from a moral standpoint, but from a practical perspective; providing clients with what they need will reduce delays, inefficiencies and wasted costs. In our experience of building our Managing Better service, an off-the-shelf approach invariably fails to recognise what the beneficiary really needs. Fitting our clients into service boxes does not work and leads to ineffective solutions and wasted resources.
Many of our clients rely on Video Relay Services (VRS) to enable them to contact public services via a BSL interpreter. It is a crucial lifeline enabling our clients to retain their independence so we would like to see the Bill include specific reference to VRS. We would recommend that the BSL Commissioner for Wales looks to ensure that access to VRS is maintained and extended to other public services and Local Authorities where possible, including through exploring the possibility of providing funding for such services.
We have also found that putting QR codes on our leaflets, along with training on how to use QR code readers, has helped D/deaf BSL users to access our services so this form of communication is something that should be explored further in the Bill or associated guidance.
Education, Health, Social Care, Transport, Other Public Services used by deaf people and their families, Workplace.
We will be addressing this question in consideration of our clients: older people living in the owner-occupier and private rented sectors. Our average clients age is 77. In our experience, the largest barrier that currently exists for D/deaf people in our client demographic is accessing and finding out about available services in the first place.
Our priority is making sure that D/deaf older people in Wales can have access to both the mainstream and specific support they need to enable them to live safety and independently at home. Through our Managing Better service, we have developed partnerships and strong relationships with organisations such as RNID and British Deaf Association (BDA) so once we have established a relationship with clients who use BSL we can sign-post them to the support they need but reaching these clients in the first place remains a challenge.
1. To access Care & Repair’s services, many clients will call our telephone number to inquire about our services. This access route is often not available for BSL users. Our caseworkers currently reach BSL clients through attending D/deaf groups organised by the British Deaf Association and other community groups and deaf clubs. Building networks in this way through community engagement and developing local networks is really the only way that we currently have to reach BSL users. In addition, the number of deaf clubs is dwindling, with many being organised by volunteers or individuals who, on retirement, have no one available to continue running the club. In addition to this, many deaf clubs have closed due to Covid and have not re-opened. This is a particular issue in rural locations.
Case Study 1 – Accessing appropriate services:
Xxxxxxxxxxxxx were referred to Managing Better after attending their local D/deaf club. Both are in their 80s, profoundly deaf and use BSL. The Managing Better caseworker arranged for a BSL interpreter to accompany her whenever a home visit was made. During the initial home visit the caseworker carried out a Healthy Homes Assessment and found that both xxxxxxxxxxxxx were frequent fallers at home due to increasing balance problems and arthritis. They found it increasingly difficult to use their bath, toilet, stairs and front door. The caseworker arranged for a RRAP (Rapid Response Adaptations Programme) grant which paid for grab rails for the bath, toilet and front door, and a second banister rail for the stairs. A referral was made to the Fire Service for a visual smoke alarm and to Social Services for an Occupational Therapist to assess for Telecare and furniture raisers. Having the support of our partner, RNID, gave us access to high quality BSL interpreters who visited with the caseworker and the Handyperson when the grab rails were fitted. Having the BSL interpreter allowed Care & Repair staff to communicate effectively with xxxxxxxxxxxxx and ensured they were properly informed about the options available to them. They were in control of the situation and could express to the caseworker what mattered most to them.
This case study demonstrates the impact of their local D/deaf club on the daily lives on xxxxxxxxxxxxx; without the club they would not have been referred to the Managing Better service and signposted to the necessary support to allow them to live safely and independently at home, and access fall preventing adaptations.
We would recommend that the BSL Commissioner for Wales establishes a plan to provide funding for vital networks and clubs for BSL users.
Another key route our clients access our services is through referrals. We would recommend establishing a dedicated D/deaf social worker in each Local Authority – this would help signpost BSL users to available services across Wales. This would also help to ensure consistency of access across Wales, including in more rural areas which are currently less accessible.
2. Once we have obtained contact with clients who use BSL, we work with partners to access BSL translation services. Our caseworkers rely on BSL interpreters which are required during every home visit and contact with our clients who are BSL users and are therefore a crucial service.
Case Study 2: Impact of BSL interpreters:
xxxxxxxx is in her 60’s and lives in a ground floor flat. xxxxxxxx was referred to the Managing Better Service during the pandemic for support around falls prevention and technology. xxxxxxxx is Deaf and uses BSL and has sight loss. xxx lives alone.
What services were provided: Falls Risk Assessment; Prudent healthcare advice; Healthy Homes Check; Benefit check; Access to an iPad via a loan scheme to reduce isolation; Referral to an Occupational Therapist; Assistance with a Blue Badge application; telecare and technology discussion; Assistance with claiming Blind Persons Tax Allowance and TV Licence; and various grants with an approximate value of £4,000 used for the following recommendations made by the Caseworker:
· 10m of galvanised rail to front access in order to reduce falls risk
· Key fob entry system for ease of access
· External and internal lighting improvements throughout for safety purposes and to promote independence as a result of sight loss
· New shower unit with contrasting buttons and anti-scald to replace a defective unit
· Raised toilet seat
In addition, we made the following referrals:
· Referrals to housing for repairs and budgeting;
· Referral to the Fire Service;
· Referrals on to various partners to support xxxx with her doorbell system and for ongoing support with shopping etc.
A total of eight home visits were undertaken, all with a BSL
interpreter with an approximate cost of £950.00. The BSL
interpreter was crucial to be able to communicate with the client,
assess xxx needs, provide
bespoke assistance to meet xxx specific needs, and make referrals
for further assistance.
Our Managing Better service has a budget to provide translators for case workers, but we note that not all services have this. We recommend that providing sufficient funding for high quality BSL translation services is vital to reducing barriers to accessing services.
The Bill proposes to establish a BSL Commissioner who would promote and facilitate the use of BSL, and would have the same powers as other minority language Commissioners such as in the Welsh Language (Wales) Measure 2011.
We agree in principle with the proposal to establish a BSL Commissioner for Wales and agree that this would show a significant message of support to BSL using communities in Wales. In our experience, BSL is its own language distinct with its own culture and should be treated as a minority language like any other.
We broadly agree with the proposed remit of the Commissioner. As set out in our response to Question 9, we would like the proposed remit of the Commissioner to also include the following:
· We would recommend that the BSL Commissioner for Wales establishes a plan to provide funding for vital networks and clubs for BSL users.
· We would recommend establishing a dedicated D/deaf social worker in each Local Authority – this would help signpost BSL users to available services across Wales. This would also help to ensure consistency of access across Wales, including in more rural areas which are currently less accessible.
· We recommend that the BSL Commissioner’s guidance should also include consideration of providing sufficient funding for high quality BSL translation services is vital to reducing barriers to accessing services.
Yes. For reasons outlined further in our response to Question 7(b) we believe that the work of the BSL Commissioner and the BSL Advisory Panel should be informed by and co-created by BSL users with first-hand lived experience of the issues and potential barriers faced.
Enabling deaf users/signers to lead the development of policies and implementation of services for BSL users/signers; Early years language support for deaf children and their families; Improving BSL provision in education; Access to interpreters in public services.
Given our demographic of clients, we cannot speak to ‘early years language support for D/deaf children and their families’ or ‘improving BSL provision in education’. We do, however, have direct experience of the importance of access to BSL interpreters, which we outline further in our response to Question 9. We would recommend that the BSL Commissioner and Advisory Panel considers implementing a requirement that each Local Authority has a dedicated D/deaf social worker. This would go a long way to helping to signpost people who use BSL to appropriate services and support.
We agree in principle with the proposal to place a duty on the Welsh Government to prepare and publish an annual BSL report. This would support the implementation and delivery of the Bill’s goals and encourage transparency and accountability. The suggestion that the Bill will place a duty on public bodies to report on their progress in promoting and facilitating BSL through the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015 reporting cycle makes sense to embed BSL into existing policy and legal frameworks.
N/A
[1] It Does Matter: Public attitudes towards people who use British Sign Language (BSL), RNID report - IDM-BSL-report.pdf