Scottish Government announces continuation of Contact Scotland BSL
- Area of Work: Policy and Research, Scottish Sensory Hub
- Type: News Item
- Published: 20th December 2024
The First Minister has reiterated his commitment to the continuation of Contact Scotland BSL.
Contact Scotland BSL is the Scottish Government’s national flagship service for Deaf and Deafblind people who use BSL as their first language. It enables thousands of people every year to access public services, providing independence and empowerment via online interpreting Video Relay Services, Braille displays, and speech synthesizers. It operates 24 hours a day, 365 days a year, and is universally accessible and free at point of use.
On 4 December the Scottish Government announced that the Contact Scotland BSL service would be terminated from 31 March 2025. In response, Deaf and Deafblind people, together with partners from across the sensory sector, raised significant concerns with MSPs about the decision, and its impact on BSL users.
At First Minister’s Questions on 19 December, Mark Griffin MSP asked the First Minister “what consideration the Scottish Government has given to what the potential impact might be on Deaf and Deafblind people of the termination of its contract with Contact Scotland BSL?”
In a welcome repositioning, First Minister John Swinney stated that: “There will be no break in service for users of Contact Scotland BSL, while we retender for the free service. We will work closely with BSL users in Scotland, and the current supplier of Contact Scotland BSL to design this service to ensure that it best meets the needs of those who use it, raises awareness of the service, and therefore also increases the number of users.”
The First Minister reiterated his commitment to the continuation of Contact Scotland BSL in response to a supplementary question from Stephen Kerr MSP (featuring an extract from the original termination letter).
The ALLIANCE warmly welcomes these recent commitments by the First Minister John Swinney to the continuation of the Contact Scotland BSL service, and full and proper engagement with Deaf and Deafblind people about the retendering process.
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