Shaping Policy to improve the lives of Deafblind People

There are a number of Scottish Government policies, strategies and plans that have an impact on the rights of Deafblind people. The key ones are listed below. Deafblind Scotland with support of Right to Dream Ambassadors and the Scottish Advisory Group on Deafblindness (SAGoD) have been involved in the development of these policies, strategies and plans. We have advocated for change and a seat round the table of these planning sessions and as a result we have been able to work with Government to develop commitments aimed at improving the lives of Deafblind people. We have focussed our Government influencing efforts on the policy priorities set out by SAGoD and those strategies, policies and plans set out below all work towards those priorities.

SAGoD Policy Influencing Priorities are:

Early identification of Deafblindness and Rehabilitation Support for Transitions.
Inclusive Communication including increased access to Guide Communicators and Deafblind Interpreters
Sensory loss literate and where needed Deafblind Specialist Social Care Services
Deafblind Education in Schools
Reduced Health and Mental Health Inequalities
More Accessible Transport
Easier to Navigate Neighbourhoods
Achievement of Human Rights

One overarching policy influencing priority is the further recognition of Deafblindness in Scotland and in particular the adoption of a clear definition based on the Nordic Definition of Deafblindness. Defining Deafblindness will enable us to better identify people at risk of a second sensory loss early and put in place the actions and support required to acquire new skills that will enable them to transition without trauma.

BSL National Plan

The Scottish Government recognised BSL as one of the languages of Scotland through the establishment of the British Sign Language (Scotland) 2015 Act. The Government state that their ambition is to ‘ensure that Scotland is the best place in the world for BSL users to live, work, visit and learn’. They have also acknowledged that BSL users encounter a range of barriers that limit life opportunities. To bring this legislation to life the first BSL National Plan 2017-2023 was published, within which priorities for action were identified through consultation and discussion with the BSL community and the organisations representing them. This plan aimed to ensure equal access, opportunity, representation, and inclusion for all BSL users as their fundamental right as Scottish citizens. To inform this plan public consultation were held involving forty three community consultation events. These events engaged the BSL community in a two-way dialogue allowing views to be captured in a culturally and linguistically appropriate way. Key themes were identified which were thereafter reflected in the plan’s actions.

The British Sign Language (Scotland) Act 2015 requires listed authorities such as the NHS, Local Authorities and Colleges and Universities in Scotland to publish plans every six years, showing how they will promote, and facilitate the promotion of the use and understanding of BSL in Scotland. These plans will take account of local circumstances and consider how best to respond to BSL users’ needs within local communities, organisations or services.

Following a progress report on the impact of the 2017-2023 plan, towards the end of 2023 a second National plan was launched. BSL National Plan 2023 -2029.

To deliver this ambition to make Scotland the best place in the world for BSL users to live, work, visit and learn, the Government alongside the BSL National Plan Advisory Group developed a number of actions under the following ten priority areas:

1. Delivering the BSL National Plan 2023-2029

2. BSL Accessibility

3. Children, Young People and their Families

4. Access to Employment

5. Health and Wellbeing

6. Celebrating BSL Culture

7. BSL Data

8. Transport

9. Access to Justice

10. Democratic Participation

Each of the priorities has a mix of short-, mid- and long-term goals that the Government will aim to deliver in the six-year life of this second National plan that will build the foundations required to meet longer term ambition for BSL in Scotland. The Government is also continuing to work with listed authorities such as NHS Boards, Universities and Colleges and Local Authorities to support development of their own more localised BSL Plans 2023-2029 and thereafter the implementation of these.

Deafblind Scotland advocated for the recognition and upholding of the rights of Tactile BSL users within the initial legislation and thereafter the two planning phases in a number of ways including:

A Tactile BSL User serving as a member of the initial BSL Legislation National Advisory Group.
As one of a small group of National BSL focussed charities serving as members of the Implementation Advisory Group for the 2017 National Plan. This included developing the Deafblind Inclusive Communication Toolkit and the provision of Tactile BSL awareness training to public bodies and community groups.
Membership of the National Plan 2023 -2029 Advisory Group supporting involvement of Deafblind people in the development of the plan. This included working with the Right to Dream Ambassadors and Scottish Advisory Group on Deafblindness to ascertain their priorities for the plan.
As a result of Deafblind Scotland’s work with the Government the 2023 - 2029 plan recognises the rights of Tactile BSL Users. Furthermore, as advocated for by our community there is recognition of the importance of supporting the acquisition of BSL and thereafter Tactile BSL skills for people progressing towards a second sensory loss who will need access to tactile forms of communication as their hearing or sight reduces. Specific committments that support these rights include:
- Action 28 - Promote and support the learning of BSL as a second language for hard of hearing, deafened people and people at risk of a second sensory loss. People at risk of a secondary sensory loss should be better equipped with tools for them to communicate. Learning BSL as a second language provides an opportunity for this.
- Action 29 - Capture the learning from projects such as Deafblind Scotland’s BSL Cafe Project, funded by the Scottish Government, that supports people who are at risk of a second sensory loss to acquire further communication skills by teaching them BSL.
Membership of the Implementation Advisory Group to support the implementation of the BSL National Plan 2023-2029, including overseeing the monitoring and evaluation of impact.
Supporting the development of local plans through running local consultation events with SAGoD members and providing written input into listed authority plans.
Scottish Government Section 10 Grants have also supported Deafblind Scotland to implement Actions 28 and 29 through the facilitation of BSL and Tactile BSL Cafes within Deafblind Scotland’s Learning and Development Centre.

National Care Service

The Scottish Government states that it aims to ‘further develop the approaches to safe, effective, integrated and person-centred health and social care support’. To help make this a reality the Scottish Government is passing legislative to develop a National Care Service (NCS) that will bring together Social Care and Community Health Services. The Government state that the ambition is for a NCS that ensures people of all ages can access the support they need to live a full life by improving consistency and quality of provision. The NCS will aim to:

Transform people's experience of social care support and related services, strengthen prevention and community-based support and reform access.
Continue integrating community health and social care and strengthen partnerships working with other services and agencies.
Ensure that individuals can participate in their care design.
Ensure people's needs are met holistically and driven by the outcomes that are important to them and their communities.
Strengthen prevention, early intervention, rehabilitation and end of life care.

Deafblind Scotland have been working with our membership through the Scottish Advisory Group on Deafblindness to support this work in a number of ways including:

Providing a lived experience perspective within the Social Covenant Lived Experience Panel.
Contributed to all the stages of consultation on the National Care Service since the initial Independent Review of Social Care in 2021 led by Derek Feeley (the Feeley Report).
Helped to support the stage 2 legislative amendments through membership of the Expert Legal Advisory Group considering these.
Presented a paper to Government on the need for improved social care for Deafblind people including access to Guide Communicators and Sensory loss aware/literate care at home and care home services.

Public Sector Equality Duty

Over recent years the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) in Scotland has been going through a process of review in relation to effectiveness. This has involved consulting with a range of people including those who use public services and those that provide them. This public consultation was open until April 2022 and included a series of proposals, both for legislative changes and changes to the wider implementation environment in relation to the Scottish Specific Duties. Following a Parliamentary debate on the 6th September 2023 on Equality within the 2023-24 Programme for Government, the Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees wrote out to those engaged in the consultation process to inform them of the next stages of the review. The Minister stated ‘as we move forward with the review, we will be taking a phased approach to improving the PSED regime’. One of the initial phases will include commitment to improving inclusive communications. The Scottish Government now aims to create a new Scottish Specific Duty that seeks to ensure inclusive communication is embedded proportionately across the work of listed authorities. This has been prioritised for the first phase of implementation of the findings of the review due to the ‘overwhelmingly positive’ stakeholder feedback on this proposal during the consultation process, both from equality advocacy groups and listed authorities. Introducing a new duty of access to inclusive communication should be beneficial for everyone in Scotland but will of course make the biggest difference to those that need support to communicate such as Deafblind people.

Deafblind Scotland was involved in responding to this consultation through:

Participation in collective responses led by organisations such as the Alliance.
SAGoD consultation informing a Deafblind Scotland response where our community overwhelmingly supported the need to improve access to inclusive communication for Deafblind people within public services, including access to Guide Communicators and Deafblind Interpreters.

See Hear Strategy

Since 2013 the See Hear Strategy has been a strategic framework aimed at meeting the needs of people living with sensory impairments in Scotland. This framework recognised Deafblindness and acknowledged the needs of deafblind people but underestimated the prevalence rate of deafblindness in Scotland. Furthermore, one important gap was that there was no definition of what was meant by Deafblindness contained in this initial strategy. The See Hear Strategy is now undergoing a refresh, presenting an opportunity to define this distinct disability/condition. Deafblind Scotland are involved in this refresh in a number of ways as listed below:

Membership of the Sensory Loss in Social Care Advisory Group who are supporting the refresh of the See Hear Strategy.
Facililtation of consultation sessions within SAGoD focused on adult perspectives of the strategy’s proposed priority themes.
Facilitation of a focus group specifically aimed at exploring the needs of children and families diagnosed with Usher Syndrome including the need for early identification and intervention to support the acquisition of communication, information access, navigation and general life skills that would support later transitions.

The aim of our work with Government is to support the publication of a refreshed See Hear strategy that will lead to:

Further recognition and awareness of Deafblindness in Scotland within social care services but also wider society.
Adoption of a definition that clarifies what is meant by deafblindness and takes account of the compounding aspects of living with the two most significant sensory losses – sight and hearing loss or Deafness.
The upholding of the right of Deafblind people to specialist social care services that are trained to meet the complexity of living with this form of dual sensory loss. This would include access to Guide Communicators, Rehabilitation and transitional support and Deafblind Interpreters.

Scottish Human Rights Legislation

The Human Rights Act 1998 came into force in October 2000. It is one of the principal ways that internationally recognised human rights are given legal effect in the UK.

The Act means that vitally-important safeguards set out in the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) are available to everyone. In particular:

all public organisations, such as the government, councils, hospitals, courts, the police, and other bodies that carry out public functions, must act compatibly with the Convention rights
individuals can take human rights cases to UK courts in order to obtain an effective remedy. They can also take them to the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg, after the national courts have issued a final judgment

In Scotland, human rights protections are also built into the devolution settlement by the Scotland Act 1998. Legislation passed by the Scottish Parliament is not law if it is incompatible with the rights defined in the Human Rights Act. Scottish Government ministers have no power to act in ways that are incompatible with those rights.

The Scottish Government states that it regards the Human Rights Act as one of the most important and successful pieces of legislation ever passed by the UK Parliament. They see retaining the Human Rights Act as essential for the protection of human rights in Scotland and across the UK as a whole. Our Deafblind Community agree that human rights need to be protected and built upon and more information on human rights and our own work funded by the Scottish Government to promote these rights for people with sensory loss is available on our Right to Dream page [insert link].

The Scottish Government supported by the Scottish Human Rights Commission has proposed a new human rights law which would put more rights protections into Scots law. The Scottish Government launched a consultation on a new Human Rights Bill for Scotland in 2023. In October 2023, the Scottish Human Rights Commission set out their position on the proposed Human Rights Bill in a series of three reports called the ‘Incorporation Series’ including a statement.

The Scottish Government’s proposed Bill will incorporate four international human rights treaties directly into Scots law: those covering economic, social and cultural rights, disabled people’s rights, rights of black and ethnic minority people, and women’s rights. It includes a right to a healthy environment, and an equality clause to ensure equal access to the rights contained within the Bill. It will also include specific rights for older people and LGBT+ people.

Deafblind Scotland and members have been involved in supporting this work through:

One member serving as a lived experience individual member of the Human Rights Lived Experience Board.
Involvement in consultation responses such as through membership of the Alliance.
Promoting awareness of existing human rights and the emerging Scottish legislation through SAGoD meetings and the Human Rights focused training for people with sensory loss and public bodies delivered through our Scottish Government funded Right to Dream Project in partnership with Visibility Scotland.