Question to the Department of Health and Social Care:

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, which recommendations of the Government’s British Sign Language Advisory Board he will implement to ensure the NHS is accessible to deaf and blind people.

Answered by Zubir Ahmed - Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department of Health and Social Care)

Under the Equality Act 2010, health and care organisations have a legal duty to make changes in their approach and provision to ensure that services are as accessible to disabled people as they are for everybody else.

All National Health Service organisations and publicly funded social care providers are expected to meet the Accessible Information Standard, which details the recommended approach to supporting the information and communication support needs of people with a disability, impairment or sensory loss, including Deaf and blind people.

We welcome the British Sign Language Advisory Board’s report, Locked out: Exclusion of deaf and deafblind BSL users from health and social care in the UK. We will carefully consider its recommendations, including how, in the context of our work on the 10-Year Health Plan and reform of adult social care, we can improve the experiences of Deaf and blind people when accessing health and care services.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what her planned timetable is for the implementation of (a) Sections 61 to 64 and (b) Section 70 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022; and whether her Department has made an assessment of the risks of commencing Sections 61 to 64 without a formal mechanism for addressing complaints about operators’ non-compliance with the Code of Practice.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Government remains committed to implementing the remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 as soon as possible. Sections 61-64 of the Act will commence on 7 April 2026. My Department is considering options for commencing section 70 of the Act and will confirm timelines in due course.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, what assessment her Department has made of the potential merits of commencing Section 70 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Government remains committed to implementing the remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 as soon as possible. Sections 61-64 of the Act will commence on 7 April 2026. My Department is considering options for commencing section 70 of the Act and will confirm timelines in due course.

Question to the Department for Science, Innovation & Technology:

To ask the Secretary of State for Science, Innovation and Technology, when she plans to bring section 70 of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 into force.

Answered by Kanishka Narayan - Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Department for Science, Innovation and Technology)

Government remains committed to implementing the remaining provisions of the Product Security and Telecommunications Infrastructure Act 2022 as soon as possible. Sections 61-64 of the Act will commence on 7 April 2026. My Department is considering options for commencing section 70 of the Act and will confirm timelines in due course.