To ask the Minister for Communities (i) for an update on the plans she has to extend the Video Relay Service for deaf people to any service that relies on telephone contact with service users or customers, i.e. public, third party and private sectors; (ii) whether this service would be provided by a single or multiple providers; and (iii) what contact she has had, or plans to have, with members of the Northern Irish deaf community as part of this process.

My Department is committed to addressing issues of accessibility for the Deaf community and officials are currently developing options to continue to improve and expand local British Sign Language (BSL) and Irish Sign Language (ISL) interpreter support.

In October 2019 my Department introduced a Video Relay Service (VRS) in Personal Independence Payment (PIP) and Disability and Carers Service (covering Disability Living Allowance, Attendance Allowance and Carer’s Allowance). As VRS is being deployed across all areas of the Department for Work and Pensions (DWP), DfC officials have ensured that additional local benefits areas have been included in this roll out from October 2020.

The Health and Social Care (HSC) Remote Interpreting Service is co-funded by the Department of Health and my Department and is managed by the HSC Board. It was launched as part of an urgent response to the COVID-19 emergency to ensure that BSL and ISL users can contact all non-emergency HSC services for information, advice and to arrange appointments and treatment. This service provides two local Deaf Community Liaison Officers who communicate directly and regularly with BSL and ISL users to promote the service and report continuous feedback from the Deaf Community regarding its effectiveness to the service’s monitoring group.

The Department of Finance Collaborative Interpretation, Translation and Transcription Services contract has been extended to April 2021 and has been varied to include the capacity for VRS to be delivered by the provider, Action on Hearing Loss. This VRS is available to all public bodies listed at https://www.finance-ni.gov.uk/publications/list-public-bodies-which-can-participate-cpd-collaborative-frameworks.

Following my meeting with the NI Coalition on Deafness on 9 September during which I had a constructive discussion on how we continue to support Deaf people, I instructed my officials to continue this engagement with the Deaf community and its various representative groups over the coming weeks and months. Officials have subsequently met with several local Deaf organisations in recent weeks to discuss a range of sign language issues, including VRS and financial support for the sector, and will continue to do so.

I assure you that I remain committed to ensuring that BSL and ISL users have the same rights and opportunities as those in the hearing community.