Policy paper

British Sign Language 5-year plan: Ministry of Justice (English and BSL versions)

Published 21 July 2025

Applies to England, Scotland and Wales

BSL version

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2pI6FZcR-_A

1. Purpose

The Cabinet Office has commissioned departments to develop 5-year British Sign Language (BSL) strategies. These will form part of a cross-government implementation plan, to be published in July 2025.  This is the Ministry of Justice’s (MoJ’s) contribution. 

MoJ is committed to making justice information accessible to all citizens, including Deaf BSL users. The BSL strategy aligns with our core values of:

• purpose
• humanity
• openness
• together

It sets out how MoJ, its agencies and other bodies will increase the use of BSL across both communications and policy activities.

2. Context

2.1 Understanding BSL

BSL is a distinct language with its own grammar and structure, not simply a signed version of English. Around 150,000 people in the UK use BSL, with over half being Deaf. This strategy acknowledges that BSL is a primary communication method for many Deaf people. It is not just a translation option for videos. Low literacy levels among many Deaf people means that the written word and subtitles alone are not a universal substitute.

2.2 Our obligations

The BSL Act 2022 officially recognises BSL as a language of Great Britain. While there is no statutory requirement for government communications to be translated into BSL, all government departments are expected to consider where the use of BSL will be of most interest and importance to Deaf BSL users.

More broadly, the Equality Act 2010 places a duty on public bodies to make reasonable adjustments for disabled people. This means they must take steps to remove barriers that would put disabled individuals at a disadvantage compared to non-disabled individuals.

3. Current position

For the previous 2 years of reporting, MoJ and its agencies have published at least as many pieces of BSL content as the average across all other departments. However, we can do more to increase BSL usage over the next 5 years. This strategy aims to address inconsistencies across the department, increase understanding of our obligations, enable BSL commissioning and build upon existing good practice.

4. Strategic objectives

4.1 Awareness and understanding

• Increase MoJ staff knowledge generally about BSL and our obligations under the BSL Act, especially among communications, policy, human resources and contracts teams.
• Promote understanding that BSL is not just for videos but also text. For some Deaf people it is a primary communication method.
• Signpost areas of BSL expertise, such as the MoJ staff disability networks, the pan-Civil Service Deaf network and the Cabinet Office’s BSL team, based in the Disability Unit in the Office for Equality and Opportunity. 

4.2 Accessibility

• Improve accessibility of MoJ communications for Deaf BSL users
• Continuous improvement: regularly review to refine our approaches and adopt best practice

4.3 Capability Building

• Establish clear processes to make BSL procurement and production simple. This includes improving the mechanisms through which all MoJ staff can start a request for BSL translations for documents. Developing understanding among communications and policy teams of how to then commission BSL content, including getting estimates for translation costs, how long it takes and how suppliers are quality assured. 

4.4 Innovation

• Explore new approaches to BSL provision, including technological and artificial intelligence (AI) solutions.
• Share best practice and BSL project learnings across MoJ and its agencies.

5. Main principles

Our approach will be guided by the principles of inclusivity, proportionality, consistency, and quality. We recognise that BSL is a distinct language with its own grammar and syntax, not a translation of English. We will concentrate on increasing awareness, understanding and commissioning capability among relevant teams, and will take a proportionate approach to implementing BSL across our communications.

6. Implementation: Communications Directorate

The Communications Directorate will lead on strengthening BSL provision across MoJ. It will do this through the central MoJ communications teams and also through its network of agencies and public body communications teams. Main actions are highlighted below.

6.1 MoJ corporate communications

Our actions will include raising awareness of BSL legal requirements and guidance in our corporate communications channels, including on the MoJ intranet and in staff newsletters. We will also promote Cabinet Office guidance on BSL through our regular communication channels such as the MoJ intranet and in staff newsletters, and with targeted communications to team leaders. We will work with departmental disability champions to support messaging.

We recognise that staff are also an important end-audience. Across the MoJ group, over 600 staff have indicated they have a hearing impairment (SOP data sourced September 2024), a significant proportion of whom are likely to use BSL communications. We will continue to consider using inclusive communication and accessibility requirements as part of our wider need to be making reasonable adjustments for staff with disabilities. Where information is communicated to large numbers of staff we will ensure accessibility requirements, including use of BSL have been considered. 

To inform this activity we will work with our Inclusive Culture Centre of Excellence (ICCE). The ICCE team provides subject matter expertise on employee experience, wellbeing and EDI and CS EDI Strategy, staff networks, diversity champions, policy and guidance.

6.2 Campaigns, digital and GOV.UK teams

Our campaigns team will nominate a team BSL champion who will establish and nurture our team’s relationships with cross-government networks. The champion will reach out to the cross-government networks over the next 4 months, and review options for training.

The team will also consider users of BSL within our standard planning frameworks (known as OASIS plans), where we will consider the audience’s needs and how to ensure messaging can reach them.

We will also consider the use of BSL interpreted materials for our public information and behavioural change campaigns where appropriate. We will also explore working with an influencer who is a BSL user on a partnership for a campaign. The team also has the opportunity to share best practice on creating inclusive communications for BSL users with other cross-government campaigns teams.

For digital content, the team will identify and prioritise content which would most benefit from BSL translation. It will implement a test-and-learn approach to trial BSL content and develop an internal guidance note to help consideration and understanding of our BSL communications obligations.

Our GOV.UK team will improve discoverability of BSL content on MoJ’s GOV.UK content, including adding appropriate tagging or metadata for search optimisation so people searching for BSL content can find it more easily. It will also identify ‘high impact’ content types that should always be considered for BSL translation and trial BSL videos for these.

6.3 Press office

Press office will include BSL considerations when planning media activity. Where Cabinet Office provisions the use of BSL interpreters, the team will explore the use of BSL interpretation, for example at live-streamed major speeches and events, subject to cost.

6.4 Design102

Design102, MoJ’s in-house creative agency, can play an important role in our BSL strategy implementation in particular for communications colleagues. The agency already handles BSL translations for clients across government, including MoJ and its agencies. Using Design102 offers a simplified pathway to BSL content creation.

The cost of BSL will be bespoke to the brief and will depend on the length, number, and complexity of videos. Design102 have previously provided BSL translations, via the Voiceover Gallery, for as little as £50 per minute (for a minimum of 30 minutes). The service includes transcript creation, in-vision BSL recording, and export of the final video with translation.

We will promote Design102’s BSL capabilities across the communications directorate, helping to remove perceived barriers around procurement time and costs. This will enable MoJ to increase BSL output at relatively low cost while maintaining quality and rapid turnaround times. If Design102 capacity is limited, another proven supplier, Clarion, is also available, sourced by the BREWL (Better Regulation, Equalities and Welsh Language) team (see point 7.3).

6.5 Resourcing communications and recruitment marketing

The team will begin work to identify where BSL content is of most importance to help jobseekers decide if roles are appropriate for them. 

The team also plans to reach out to staff networks to share their experience and insights into best practice communications with deaf and hearing-impaired individuals. Additionally, the team will investigate and raise awareness of the process for booking a BSL interpreter for in-person recruitment events and recorded audio-visual content when promoting roles that do not require a certain level of hearing ability. 

Later in the BSL strategy period, from 2027 to 2030, the resourcing communications and recruitment marketing team will develop guidelines and protocols on the use of BSL for communications to jobseeker audiences and adhere to the principles outlined in the BSL guidance and protocols document when planning all communications. 

6.6 MoJ agencies and public body BSL translations

MoJ agencies and public bodies will make a significant contribution to increasing BSL usage across the justice system, reflecting their direct engagement with service users. Examples of some of these are listed below.

His Majesty’s Prison and Probations Service (HMPPS) will produce BSL versions of their top 10 family-facing guidance pages on GOV.UK by 2030 and review existing audio-visual materials for potential BSL enhancement. 

His Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) will review and, where needed, improve existing BSL resources for jurors. On GOV.UK it will review and, where appropriate, signpost BSL court and tribunal information and ensure user information is available in BSL on request.

The Office of the Public Guardian (OPG) will continue to produce BSL translations of videos, adding to their current portfolio of 5 BSL-translated customer information videos. 

The Legal Aid Agency (LAA) will aim to include BSL versions for all future video content. 

CAFCASS (Children and Family Court Advisory and Support Service) plans to create animated films with BSL translations and will review client-facing materials for potential BSL translation. It will also consider BSL requirements in family court guidance materials.

These agency and public body-specific initiatives will substantially increase BSL accessibility across the justice system, targeting the most user-facing and impactful communications.

7. Implementation across the wider MoJ

Beyond the Communications Directorate, BSL provision will be strengthened across the wider MoJ through the following approaches.

7.1 Policy group

We will update the Public Sector Equality Duty (PSED) for policy makers guidance, to encourage and prompt teams to consider BSL as part of policy development and delivery. We will work to embed BSL considerations as part of carrying out equality impact assessments during policy development.

We will issue one-page guidance on accessible versions of consultations to policy teams to support reasonable adjustment consideration, including the need to understand the needs of disabled stakeholders who may use BSL. 

We will provide examples of BSL versions of written materials including consultations drawing on cross-government examples via the Cabinet Office where needed.

7.2 Procurement and resources

To ensure consistent quality and value, we will promote clear processes for commissioning BSL translation. Design102 and Clarion, a supplier sourced by BREWL, are both available and both have a positive track record.

7.3 Stakeholder engagement

Effective implementation requires strong relationships with stakeholders. We will engage with MoJ staff who use BSL or have experience with the Deaf community, and work with the MoJ staff disability networks and the pan-Civil Service Deaf network to gain insights on communications with Deaf people.

7.4 HR implementation

People and Capability Group will continue to provide individuals with advice and guidance on BSL as a reasonable workplace adjustment during recruitment and the workplace. 

8. Timeline for implementation

There are multiple teams across MoJ engaged in this work, so a detailed timetable is not practical. In broad terms we see the focus across the 5-year period as follows:

• 2025 to 2026: promoting guidance, training, commissioning processes across MoJ and its agencies and building on current activity
• 2027 to 2030: expanding implementation across more MoJ business, with a stronger challenge across the board to use BSL translation services

9. Main enablers for increasing consideration and usage of BSL

Success will depend on several enablers:

• staff awareness: basic understanding of BSL and our obligations, why subtitles are not a direct substitute
• commissioning process: signpost procedures for BSL commissioning – knowing that translations are low cost and relatively easy to procure will be an important catalyst to increasing BSL translations
• support from experts, including MoJ disability networks and the Cabinet Office’s BSL team: this team can share case studies and provide advice, it has access to the BSL advisory board should expert advice be needed, and it can call on limited funds for translations, available on a case-by-case basis

10. Monitoring and evaluation

Our progress will be tracked through annual reviews of BSL provision across MoJ, gathering feedback from MoJ staff disability networks, and monitoring usage and engagement with BSL content. We will report annually to the Cabinet Office on progress against this strategy.

11. Resource implications

This strategy acknowledges that resources are finite. All departments and agencies will need to:

• make case-by-case assessments of need
• prioritise high-impact communications
• consider cost-effective approaches
• build BSL requirements into communication budgets from the outset
• share resources and best practice where possible

MoJ is no exception. However, its access to proven suppliers and ability to access low-cost translations will be an important factor in managing resources.

12. Summary

This strategy sets out MoJ’s approach to improving BSL provision over the next 5 years. The focus is on practical, achievable improvements. Success will be measured by increased availability and quality of BSL content, greater staff awareness, and improved experiences for Deaf BSL users interacting with the justice system.

Through this measured approach, we aim to make meaningful progress toward the spirit and requirements of the BSL Act while working within practical constraints.

Annex A MoJ: previous years’ BSL implementation examples published on GOV.UK

The British Sign Language (BSL) report 2022 - GOV.UK

British Sign Language (BSL) second report, 2023 to 2024 - GOV.UK