Policy paper

British Sign Language 5-year plan: HM Treasury – 1-year update, July 2026 (English and BSL versions)

Updated 15 July 2026

This was published under the 2024 to 2026 Starmer Labour government

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4n1wF-x3kTk

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Progress and impact in the last 12 months

Over the past 12 months, HM Treasury has continued to embed British Sign Language (BSL) across high-profile communications, particularly through Chancellor speeches and major fiscal events. We have delivered BSL-interpreted video content across a series of key moments, including:

• the Chancellor’s Regional Growth Speech (June 2025)
• Mansion House address (July 2025)
• Regional Investment Summit (October 2025)
• the scene-setter speech ahead of the Autumn Budget (November 2025)

These were distributed across core digital channels including X, LinkedIn and YouTube, improving accessibility for Deaf audiences.

In practice, this reflects early progress towards a more consistent and planned approach to BSL provision for flagship announcements, although delivery has not yet been uniform across all communications.

BSL interpretation is now more routinely considered at the planning stage for major speeches and live-streamed events, supported by established partnerships with government-approved providers such as Barefoot Communications and Sign Solutions.

This progress aligns with our 5-year commitment to expand BSL across digital communications and embed accessibility into production processes. The integration of BSL into social video content, alongside strengthened internal awareness and planning expectations, represents initial delivery against these commitments.

We have measured success through a combination of reach metrics and engagement data. For example, the BSL-compliant Autumn Budget scene-setter content reached more than 20,000 users. We are continuing to develop more robust evaluation frameworks, including assessing engagement with accessible content.

This work is improving access to key economic announcements for deaf people, supporting greater inclusion in national conversations about the economy.

However, we recognise that progress has been uneven, and that we are not yet delivering BSL on a consistently “accessible by default” basis – particularly for publications. Over the next year, we will focus on embedding BSL earlier in planning processes and ensuring it becomes a more routine part of our communications approach.

Over the past year, HM Treasury has made progress against its 5-year commitment to expand the use of BSL across digital communications. In particular, we have moved quickly towards embedding BSL in major Chancellor speeches, such as the Mansion House speech, the Autumn Budget scene setter speech, and 2 key growth-related announcements. 

Priorities for the next 12 months

Building on this progress, our priorities for the next 12 months are to further systematise and scale BSL provision across a wider range of outputs.

Tactically, we will focus on embedding BSL into major fiscal and policy milestones, including the Spring Statement, Autumn Budget, Spending Review moments, and significant Growth Mission announcements. We will also explore opportunities to incorporate BSL into pre-recorded social media content, stakeholder briefings, and campaign activity where appropriate.

In line with our commitment to continuous improvement, we will refine our approach by developing clearer criteria for when BSL should be used, improving evaluation methods, and exploring the role of emerging technologies to enhance accessibility at scale. These steps will ensure our original 5-year plan remains ambitious, deliverable, and responsive to user needs.

We identified delivery challenges this year. For example, while we planned to include a BSL interpreter on stage for a major Chancellor speech, this was not successfully delivered. As a result, we will take a more direct role in co-ordinating BSL provision for key events to ensure delivery is secured in future and to strengthen internal understanding of BSL and its importance internally in HM Treasury.