ITV has failed to offer a British Sign Language-interpreted version of its first leaders’ debate – Sunak vs Starmer – within 24 hours on its streaming platform ITVX, breaking a promise to a Deaf campaigner who threatened the broadcaster with legal action over the lack of access.
The debate on Tuesday – helmed by veteran newsreader Julie Etchingham – was announced on 29 May, with the broadcaster confirming in a follow-up statement issued later the same day that the programme would not come with live BSL interpretation as it lacks the “capability”.
ITV said it would instead provide live subtitles, however a day later the organisation was hit with a legal letter from firm Inspire Legal, calling on it to offer BSL for the head-to-head between the Conservative and Labour Party leaders.
The correspondence was sent on behalf of Deaf actor and writer Katie Rowley, who told Liam O’Dell in a statement: “As a Deaf person whose first language is British Sign Language (BSL), I need to watch the interpreter to understand the debates, to understand what each parties are proposing for the next five or so years – and as a citizen of the UK under the Equality Act we have a right to reasonable adjustments to access their debates.”
The pre-action protocol document – which concerns actions a party can take before a case is brought to court – was penned by lawyer Chris Fry, and states Rowley is “concerned about being able to access information from the leaders’ debate about policy commitments on important topics” which are relevant to her and her three-year-old son.
It continues: “We understand that ITV engages ITV Signpost to provide BSL interpreters. We further understand that BSL interpreters can be accessible on short notice and at a very modest cost of £150 per afternoon.
“For such a large and important event this is clearly not a disproportionate expense, or indeed a need which you could not have anticipated.
“Should there be issues with you obtaining BSL support from your own ‘Signpost’ company, we understand that Red Bee [Media] are an organisation that the BBC uses.”
ITV has not responded to multiple requests for comment since the letter was sent on 30 May, but BBC News reports that a response came on 31 May, in which the channel said it recognised Rowley would be “disappointed” by the decision, but she had “no basis” to bring forward a discrimination claim.
Hours before the debate took place on Tuesday, Liam O’Dell reported he understood ITV had committed to providing a signed version of the debate between Rishi Sunak and Sir Keir Starmer on ITVX within 24 hours of the programme being broadcast.
However, as of 11:25pm on Wednesday, BSL remains unavailable for Sunak vs Starmer on-demand – the webpage for the first 70-minute debate, running from 9pm to around 10:10pm on Tuesday, only listing subtitles as an access option.
Rowley, Fry and ITV have all been approached for comment.
Wednesday also saw the BBC confirm the party representatives taking part in its first election debate on Friday, which it said will come with live BSL interpretation on the BBC News channel.
The same provision will also be available for a two-hour leaders’ special of Question Time in York on 20 June, as well as a debate between Sunak and Starmer in Nottingham on 26 June.
Update – 06/06/24 – 00:00: ITV has now uploaded a signed version to its ITVX platform, though it’s understood this occurred sometime between 11:38pm and 11:48pm on Wednesday evening.
Update – 06/06/24 – 08:00: In a statement commenting on ITV failing to upload the signed version within 24 hours, Rowley said: “When they said within 24 hours I felt disappointed that it wasn’t planned better, that it will take that extra time to get it after our friends and family. In a way I felt hurt but understood it was better than nothing.
“And now it’s not happened I’m angry that a promise has been broken. It shows we don’t matter, this happens too often.
“Why am I surprised? It’s nothing new. Like Covid, we don’t matter?”
In July 2021, Rowley successfully sued the Cabinet Office over its failure to provide BSL interpretation for its coronavirus briefings, with the court finding the government breached the Equality Act in relation to two data briefings broadcast without any BSL access.
Meanwhile Mr Fry confirmed he would not be taking further action over the delay, as it is “unlikely to have affected many [people] from 10pm to 11.38pm sufficiently to justify taking action”.
Update – 06/06/24 – 10:30: An ITV spokesperson said they had no further comment to add.
Images: ITV News/YouTube.
Liam O'Dell 