British Sign Language 5-year plan: Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – 1-year update, July 2026 (English and BSL versions)
Updated 15 July 2026
Applies to England, Scotland and Wales
© Crown copyright 2026
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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=J76lItG-vSI
Progress and impact in the last 12 months
MHCLG’s BSL 5-year plan set 3 objectives to achieve by 2029:
- increase the frequency of BSL content compared with the 2024 to 2025 reporting year, with new and widely-seen content published more than once a month by 2029
- provide BSL content where it will have the most impact for communities, such as in significant policy areas or where practical information is shared
- all our funded public information campaigns include BSL content (for example, marketing campaigns with campaign websites, on areas such as housing)
MHCLG produced 6 new pieces of BSL content in the reporting year 2025 to 2026. This compares to 6 in the previous year, and 2 in the year before that. We have more work to do on our first objective – to produce BSL content more than once a month by 2029. We need to do more to encourage staff to consider the production of BSL content but we have made progress towards this goal.
We have made good progress on the second and third objectives, to provide BSL where it will have the most impact and on all our funded public information campaigns. In the 2025 to 2026 reporting year, 5 of the 6 new pieces of BSL content contained practical information for the public on housing safety, conditions and rights. 4 of these videos were published as part of funded public information campaigns, while the fifth explained changes for social housing tenants. This builds on BSL content produced in previous years that is still in use on campaign websites.
Priorities for the next 12 months
We are ahead of schedule on our objective to include BSL in all our funded public information campaigns. Content is live on all the campaign websites we own:
- Make Things Right – where tenants in social and privately rented housing can seek advice for issues in in their home or with landlords
- Fire Kills – which encourages the installation of smoke alarms
Publishing content to support people’s safety and living conditions aligns with our goal to provide BSL where it can have the most impact.
In the next year, we will continue to make our campaigns accessible while expanding the use of BSL for government guidance on GOV.UK. We will promote BSL among staff so content is created about other important policy areas.