Subject matter and legislative competence of devolved legislatures
The devolution settlements for both Scotland and Wales provide that equal opportunities is a reserved matter. However, there are significant exceptions to this. In particular, the encouragement of equal opportunities (other than by prohibition or regulation) is devolved to the Senedd and the Scottish Parliament.
	Section 2 requires the Secretary of State to publish a report on what ministerial departments have done to promote the use of British Sign Language in their public communications. The Scottish and Welsh governments are not subject to the reporting duty. The Secretary of State’s report will not concern communications about matters that only relate to Scotland and do not relate to matters that are reserved to the UK Parliament. Similarly, the report will not concern communications about matters that only relate to Wales and do not relate to reserved matters. Section 3 requires the Secretary of State to issue guidance about the promotion of BSL. The guidance will not include advice or material which relates only to Scotland or Wales and does not relate to matters that are reserved to the UK Parliament.