NEWS FOR AUGUST 2013

Private Members Bill highlights the need for greater communication support for deaf people
Added 30 Aug 2013
The Private Members Bill (PMB) on Deaf Communication is being put before parliament by Sir Malcolm Bruce MP, one of the deaf community’s foremost advocates. The bill provides an opportunity to raise the profile of deaf people’s communication needs.





BSL has as strong case as any language to be part of the Modern Foreign Language group of subjects, says Signature
Added 21 Aug 2013
We have been keeping you up to date on our campaign for a GCSE in British Sign Language (BSL). We are calling for BSL to be part of the Modern Foreign Language (MFL) group of subjects, like other languages.
The Department for Education’s consultation, Reformed GCSE Subject Content, closed yesterday, 20 August, and Signature have responded.


Signature calls for deaf communication support to be at the heart of the NHS mandate
Added 16 Aug 2013
Signature is using a Department of Health consultation to reiterate that communication support for deaf people should be at the heart of the NHS mandate. We responded to the consultation, Refreshing the NHS Mandate, to make sure deaf people receive the safe, high quality communication support they are entitled to from the NHS.

Would you like to become a Signature external assessor?
Added 15 Aug 2013
Is your first language BSL? Do you have high level signing skills and understand sign linguistics? Do you want to help improve standards in BSL assessments? If so, working as a Signature external assessor may be the perfect opportunity for you.

Signature Northern Ireland
Added 15 Aug 2013
There are currently no staff members based in the Signature Northern Ireland office. Any enquiries should be directed to the team in our Durham office in the first instance.
Over the coming months we will be reviewing our operations in Northern Ireland and will endeavour to update our valued stakeholders there as soon as we are able to.

Signature Annual Awards - judging panel face tough decision
Added 14 Aug 2013
The judging panel for the Signature Annual Awards will meet soon to make the final decision on the winners in the prestigious 2013 Signature Annual Awards.
The panel face the tough challenge of choosing between a host of worthy shortlisted nominees.

Liberal Democrats to Discuss British Sign Language
Added 13 Aug 2013
News reaches us at Signature that the Liberal Democrats will have a debate on British Sign Language (BSL) at their autumn conference. The debate on Tuesday 17 September has been prompted by a motion which will ask delegates to vote on the legal status of BSL.

"Make Work Capability Assessments fully accessible for deaf people", Signature tells the DWP
Added 09 Aug 2013
Signature aims to make the benefit assessment process more accessible for deaf and hard of hearing people with our response to a government consultation, Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) Fourth Independent Review of Work Capability Assessments.


Improvements in deaf communication support highlighted in government report
Added 02 Aug 2013
The Department of Culture Media and Sport (DCMS) recently published a report following their two year review on the future of the UK's media and digital sectors. The report, entitled Connectivity Content and Consumer, contains some interesting findings for deaf and hard of hearing people.