The British Sign Language (Wales) Act 2026 has now put a statutory duty on the Welsh Ministers to promote and facilitate the use of BSL in Wales. The legislation, published on legislation.gov.uk, received Royal Assent on 27 April 2026 and came into force on 28 April 2026. The Act defines BSL broadly enough to cover both the visual form of British Sign Language and the tactile form used by some deafblind people, although a limited set of provisions apply to the visual form only. That matters because the legislation is not framed as a symbolic statement. It creates a working system of strategy, guidance, planning and reporting across devolved public services.
At ministerial level, the central requirement is a national BSL strategy. The Act says the Welsh Ministers must publish that strategy within 18 months of commencement, which gives a publication deadline of 28 October 2027. The strategy must explain how ministers will use their own functions to promote and facilitate BSL and how they intend to encourage listed public bodies to do the same. The strategy must also include targets on workforce capacity. In particular, it must address the number of BSL translators and interpreters available for relevant public functions, and the number of people available to teach and assess them. The legislation also requires ministers to set out what information on BSL use in Wales was gathered and considered when the strategy was prepared.
The Act places detailed process duties around that strategy. Ministers must involve the appointed BSL adviser, appropriate representatives of BSL signers, and any other persons they consider appropriate. The text is explicit that involvement must start at the beginning of the process, continue at a formative draft stage, and be supported by enough information and enough time for meaningful response. Once published, the strategy must be laid before Senedd Cymru and made available in BSL. Ministers must review it at least once every six years after first publication and publish any revised version. In parallel, they must issue guidance to listed public bodies no later than the date the strategy is published, and that guidance must also be published and made available in BSL.
The duties then pass to the bodies named in section 9. Those bodies include county and county borough councils in Wales, Local Health Boards, Public Health Wales NHS Trust, Velindre University NHS Trust, Welsh Ambulance Services University NHS Trust, Digital Health and Care Wales, and Health Education and Improvement Wales. Each listed public body must publish its own BSL plan within 12 months of the national strategy being published. The plan must explain how the body will promote and facilitate BSL in the exercise of its functions, how it intends to follow ministerial guidance, or why it does not intend to do so, and any additional material later prescribed in regulations. Plans must be sent to the Welsh Ministers and made available in BSL.
Local compliance is not a one-off exercise. A listed public body must review its plan if the Welsh Ministers direct it to do so, and again after any revised national strategy is published. If the body decides to revise its plan, the revised version must be published as soon as reasonably practicable. The consultation standard mirrors the national one. Bodies must involve appropriate representatives of BSL signers and other relevant persons from the beginning, seek views while proposals are still being shaped, provide enough information for informed comment, and allow enough time for a proper response. For councils, health boards and NHS trusts, that points to a governance exercise that will need policy, service delivery and engagement teams working together rather than a late-stage accessibility check.
The Act also creates a formal advisory structure. The Welsh Ministers must appoint a BSL adviser and a panel to assist that adviser. Under the Schedule, ministers must be satisfied that the adviser can communicate effectively in BSL and has an appropriate personal understanding of the experiences of BSL signers, and they must seek the advice of a BSL signer before reaching that view. The adviser may provide information or advice to ministers on the Act, and, with ministerial agreement, to other persons on promoting and facilitating BSL in Wales. The adviser may also ask a listed public body for information needed to carry out those functions. A body may decline only where it considers compliance would conflict with its duties or adversely affect the exercise of its functions, and any refusal must be explained to the adviser in writing.
Accountability runs through regular publication duties. Within 12 months of publishing a BSL plan, and within 12 months of any revised plan, each listed public body must publish a report on what it has done to implement the most recent version and explain anything it has not implemented. Those reports must be sent to the Welsh Ministers and made available in BSL. Ministers, for their part, must publish a national progress report at least once every three years after the first strategy is published, lay it before the Senedd and make it available in BSL. To prepare that report, they must gather information about BSL use in Wales on a regular basis and may require listed public bodies to supply specified information. The report must also explain whether ministers considered changing the list of bodies covered by the Act, which means the scope of the regime is expected to remain under review.
In practical terms, the legislation gives Wales a statutory framework rather than a short-term programme. The immediate tasks for ministers are commencement planning, appointment of the adviser and panel, early engagement with BSL signers, evidence gathering, and drafting the first strategy and guidance. For local authorities and NHS bodies, the lead time should be used to review interpreting capacity, commissioning arrangements, staff training, digital access, complaints handling and governance so that a publishable plan can be produced quickly once the national strategy appears. The Act also leaves the Welsh Ministers with further rule-making powers. They may amend the list of public bodies through regulations, subject to Senedd approval, and may prescribe extra content for BSL plans through regulations subject to annulment. That combination gives ministers a route to widen coverage or standardise plan content over time, while keeping the main duties on the face of the legislation.