Jenny Willott

Liberal Democrats | Cardiff Central

British Sign Language

Mr. Jim Cunningham (Coventry, South) (Lab): What recent discussions her Department has had with the Department for Education and Skills on ways to increase the use of British sign language on television.

The Minister for the Arts (Estelle Morris): My Department is an active member of the British sign language working group, which was established by the Department for Work and Pensions.The Communications Act 2003 extends, for the first time, the signing target on digital terrestrial television to digital cable and satellite broadcasters. That target is that 5 per cent. of all non-excluded programmes should be translated into sign language.

Mr. Cunningham : I thank my right hon. Friend for that answer, but may I ask her, first, whether she has a time scale for expanding those sign language programmes; and secondly, whether she is prepared to provide incentives to encourage more of them?

Estelle Morris: There is indeed a time scale—that the target should be reached by the 10th anniversary of the start of the service. That differs depending on the broadcaster concerned. For the BBC it is 2008; for some of the others it is 2010. I am not about to announce any incentives to ensure that it is reached, but it will be closely monitored through Ofcom. My hon. Friend may want to know that towards the end of last month, Ofcom published its code for people with sensory impairment, in which it set out its plans for ensuring that the target was reached and how it intends to monitor and enforce it. I very much hope that we can make progress on this important issue.