Event organised by Parliament's Outreach Service in partnership with the British Deaf Association. How Parliament works and to have a say on topics that matter.

1. How Parliament
works and how to
get involved
19 November 2014
#TalkParliament
@UKParlOutreach

2. Monarch
House of Commons
House of Lords

3. • A politically neutral role
• Signs off laws passed by Parliament (Royal Assent)
• Opens Parliament each year

4. Link to transcript of Queens Speech 4 June 2014:
https://www.gov.uk/government/speeches/queens-speech-2014

5. • The democratically elected chamber of Parliament
• There are currently 650 MPs
• MPs are elected at least every five years

6. • The House of Lords is the second chamber of
Parliament, often known as the revising House
• There are 786 Members (as at October 2014):
• 679 Life Peers
• 85 Hereditary Peers
• 26 Bishops

7. • Commons, Lords, Monarch
• Holds Government to
account
• Passes laws
• Enables taxation
• Represents public
• Raises key issues
• Some MPs and some Lords
• Chosen by the Prime
Minister
• Runs Government
departments and public
services
• Accountable to Parliament

8. Makes and passes laws:
Legislation
Holds Government to
account: Scrutiny
Raises key issues

9. Passage of a bill
Bill starting in the
House of
Commons
Bill starting in the
House of Lords
House of Commons
House of Lords
House of Lords House of Commons
Royal Assent
Royal Assent

10. Adjournment Debates / Questions for Short Debate
Debates take place every
day in the House of Commons
and the House of Lords

11. Chi Onwurah MP
What steps is the
Minister for Culture
and Digital
Economy (Mr
Edward Vaizey)
taking to support
people with a
disability to get
online.

12. Chi Onwurah: Last month the charity ‘Becoming Visible’ arranged for
my hon. Friend the Member for Newcastle upon Tyne North (Catherine
McKinnell) and me to meet a group of profoundly deaf constituents. I
was struck by how much they wanted to participate and engage and, in
particular, to find jobs—but not to be paid less than the minimum wage—
and also by how excluded they felt by the lack of British sign language
accessibility for the web. I am sure that there is a technological solution.
What technologies is the Minister examining that could help those with
disabilities, especially the profoundly deaf, to get online?
Mr Vaizey: I share the hon. Lady’s concern. I have been encouraging
the use of what is known as the video relay system, which enables
people to talk to a British sign language interpreter online. I have written
to the top 100 FTSE companies, but very few have replied, and I intend
to follow that up soon.
One of the things that held the programme back was a costing of £100
million, which I considered fanciful. When BT installed the system, the
costing was between £15,000 and £20,000. The system is very cheap,
and companies should install it

13. Parliamentary Questions
Written or spoken questions asked by MPs and Lords,
directed at Government

14. Lilian Greenwood MP
http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201314/cmhansrd/cm131112
/debtext/131112-0004.htm#1311135000002
Hearing
Loss in
Adulthood

15. Petitions
Usually call on Government for some action regarding
an issue, local or national. Presented to the House of
Commons by your MP
Early Day Motions
A published statement which allows MPs to show their
opinion on a particular subject. Other MPs can add
their name to show their support

16. Petition
Mr Peter Bone MP
The Humble Petition
of the residents of
Wellingborough,
Northamptonshire
and the surrounding
areas,

17. Petition
“That the Petitioners believe that the proposed closure of Glamis Hall
in Wellingborough is unacceptable because there are no other day
care facilities for the elderly in Wellingborough; further that the
Petitioners believe that for many of the 180 elderly people who attend
the day centre it is their only opportunity to socialise, and provides an
excellent service, including transport to/from the centre, bathing,
podiatry and hair dressing services; and further that the Petitioners
believe that it provides a social atmosphere for some of our most
vulnerable people, as well as providing recreation bookings and sports
changing rooms in the evenings and weekends.
Wherefore your Petitioners pray that your Honourable House urges
the Department for Communities and Local Government to encourage
Northamptonshire County Council and the Borough Council of
Wellingborough to work together to ensure Glamis Hall is kept open
until the end of November 2015, while working with the community in
the interim period to find a permanent solution which is satisfactory to
all”

18. • Informal cross party groups on lots of different
subjects e.g.
• Deafness
• Youth Affairs
• Asthma
• MPs and Lords form APPGs to build their knowledge
of a particular area
• APPGs are a useful way to identify MPs/Peers with
an interest in a certain cause

19. • Committees are set up to scrutinise specific areas
of work and government departments
• Work carried out through inquiries
• Groups and individuals submit evidence
• Inquiry report created and passed to relevant
government department

20. Select Committees
 The Work and Pensions Committee hears
from users of Access to Work and
representative groups as part of its inquiry
into employment support for disabled people.
http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/
commons-select/work-and-pensions-committee/news/access-to-work-second-
evidence/

21. These group activities will explore ways of engaging
with Parliament with:
• Parliamentary Questions
• Adjournment Debates
• Select Committees
• Petitions/e-petitions

22. • Contact your local MP or an MP with an interest in
your issue
• Contact a Lord with an interest in your issue
• Engage with a Select Committee

23. • Contact your local MP in first instance
• Identify and contact Parliamentarians with an
interest
• Be clear on your aims
• Be positive, proactive and polite

24. www.parliament.uk and @UKParliament
Commons Information Office
• hcinfo@parliament.uk
Lords Information Office
• hlinfo@parliament.uk
Parliament’s Outreach Service
• outreach@parliament.uk
#TalkParliament
@UKParlOutreach

25. www.parliament.uk

26. BDA and Parliament
Westminster
David Buxton
Chief Executive

27. Deaf people
campaigning
• Government Bills – Broadcasting Bill: subtitle and sign
language
• Private Member Bills – Disability Bills, seven times failed
for 20 years until government introduced the Bill in 1995
• Early Day Motions – Access to Work, BSL, Deaf Children
• Government E-Petitions - over 50,000 signed to stop deaf
children funding cuts led by NDCS
• Parliamentary Questions – Access to Work, Hearing Aids,
Lipspeaking classes, Deaf Children provision
• Meetings with Ministers – Ministers Disability Forum,
delegations (eg. Access to Work), Ministry of Justice group
on deaf people
• Meeting MPs and Peers – key spokespersons in the
Commons and Lords. All Party Parliamentary Group on
Deafness, local MPs surgeries, letters/petitions
• Lobbying Groups – UKCoD, BDA, NDCS, AoHL
• Party Conferences – Labour, LibDems, Conservative,
Green, SNP
• Civil Servants – providing evidence, reports to the decision
/ policy makers

28. Why we need a BSL Act?
• The Government “recognised”
BSL as a language of its own right
on 18th March 2003
• Many Deaf people thought
“recognition” was the end of the
fight – but it isn’t!
• Not legal recognition, just
“respect” for our language!
• We do not want “respect” but legal
status for BSL!

29. What about other laws?
• Welsh, Scottish Gaelic and Cornish
languages were legally recognised by our
Government under the European Charter
for Regional or Minority Languages. Why
not BSL?
• Equality Act 2010 does not protect the
rights of BSL users!
• Our Government ratified the United
Nations Convention on the Rights of
Persons with Disabilities (UNCRPD) and
yet it is failing to protect the human
rights of Deaf people in the UK!
• Scottish Parliament – a BSL Bill is now
introduced but it’s not a human right.

30. Working together
Some of our campaign objectives are below:
• Collect evidence from a wide range of sources
within the UK and abroad
• Develop an effective communication strategy
– to inform and recruit more supporters and
campaigners
• Increase participation from deaf people,
individual supporters and allies
• Raise awareness to gain public support
• Canvass MPs, MEPs and peers – to monitor
their attitude to the campaign & their level of
awareness of Deaf issues
• Test / law cases