Thank you very much. This proposal was discussed at the Equality and Social Justice Committee yesterday, and I don't think there was any dissent on the importance of passing this measure, although I think there's some dissent on the way in which we do it. I can't believe that anybody would oppose it, but I think it's important to understand who is it who needs to use British Sign Language, because there's no point in us simply passing legislation just for the sake of it; we have to reflect on how it should change our behaviour.

So, there are over 0.5 million deaf and hard of hearing people living in Wales, but obviously most of them are able to overcome that deafness through the use of hearing aids. But there are about 4,000 people who we know about who use British Sign Language because their deafness is so profound that they do not have the ability to acquire spoken languages like English, Welsh or any other language. So, British Sign Language is incredibly important for them and it's also very important for people who have other communication difficulties and British Sign Language is a very useful tool for them.

There has been a reduction in the number of deaf children who are in school, but I have seen elsewhere sign language being taught, for example in nursery or primary provision, to all children, so that the inclusive school can ensure that all the children are able to communicate with each other, including a child who needs to use sign language.

I think there's also an issue for the Senedd Commission: if we're serious about British Sign Language, how often should we be making that available in our proceedings so that people who need to use sign language are able to follow what we're doing on their behalf? So, I hope that we will all unanimously want to pass this measure in conjunction with the UK Parliament, but I think that we need to reflect on how we can reach out to this quite vulnerable and isolated community, one of whom I happened to meet quite coincidentally yesterday and I felt embarrassed that I didn't really have as much sign language as I would have liked. So, I hope we will all support this measure.