To ask the Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body how much of its annual budget is allocated to the provision of BSL services to ensure that the Parliament is accessible to those who use BSL, in light of the 2022 census results showing that BSL is used by 117,300 people, or 2.2 per cent of the population. (S6O-03584)

I thank the member for the question and recognise her work to raise the profile and use of British Sign Language in the Scottish Parliament.

Although inclusion is more complex than a simple pro rata of budgets per population using a language, each year we spend around £90,000 to £100,000 on our services and staff to support and grow BSL inclusion.

The SPCB is proud of its achievements through its first BSL plan and is about to launch the consultation on its second plan. The second plan will build on our current work, not least in continuing to expand the proportion of chamber business that is BSL interpreted from the current level of around 12 per cent, and in continuing to provide interpretation of every First Minister’s question time.

In response to my previous question to the SPCB on the wider roll-out of BSL accessibility, I was advised to raise the issue at the Conveners Group, which I have done, and I was advised there that the Parliament does not have the necessary resources to facilitate BSL accessibility across all committee work.

Although recent efforts have been commendable, deaf people and BSL users want to be included in more issues than just those that affect their communication needs. They seek inclusion in all areas of democracy. Can the SPCB allocate the necessary resources to ensure that those individuals have direct access to all democratic processes, thereby promoting true inclusivity in our parliamentary system?

The member might be interested to know that we interpreted or translated into BSL 12 per cent of chamber business in the first five months of this year, 15 per cent of our committee calls for views, and 20 per cent of our festival of politics events in 2023, which has risen to more than 30 per cent in the 2024 programme.

However, I return to the fact that we are launching our draft BSL2 plan to build on that work, not least in continuing to expand BSL-interpreted chamber business, as well as providing interpretation of every FMQ. The member raises an important issue, so if she can be more specific about what she requires, particularly with regard to committees, I am sure that we can explore and consider that in the draft BSL2 plan.

Sharon Dowey is joining us online for question 5.