§ Jon TrickettTo ask the Secretary of State for Education and Skills what steps his Department is taking to secure universal access for deaf children to Sign Bilingualism; and if he will make a statement. [147450]
§ Mr. MilibandLast March the Government issued a position statement recognising British Sign Language (BSL) as a language in its own right and announcing that it would make available £1 million for a discrete programme of initiatives to support the statement. A working group comprising key Government Departments and organisations for deaf people has been established to advise on priorities for allocating the funding. Tenders are currently being sought for work956W which will contribute to establishing a Great Britain wide framework to support the recruitment, training and deployment of BSL tutors and for work which will promote access for BSL users through awareness-raising amongst employers, service providers and in the wider community. The working group will also be considering strategies and policies which overtime will further increase access to BSL and will be making recommendations to Ministers in the autumn.
Parents of deaf pupils who have statements of special educational needs, are able to express a preference for the maintained school they would like their child to attend, and can also make representations for a place at an independent or non-maintained special schools. Before expressing a preference they are able to consider communication approaches offered by different schools—auditory-oral, total communication or sign bilingualism.