CLASSIFICATION OF LIP-READING CLASSES

Early day motion 932, tabled 1 November 2010 by Annette Brooke (Liberal Democrat). Signed by 31 members.

That this House notes that lip-reading is a vital communication skill for many people with hearing loss, which prevents social isolation, increases confidence and independence and helps keep people in employment; congratulates the Royal National Institute for the Deaf on its Read My Lips campaign and audit of lip-reading provision across the UK; further notes with concern that lip-reading is currently classified by the Skills Funding Agency as a leisure activity; further notes that this means that those wishing to learn to lip-read have access to the same level of funding as those who wish to learn cake decorating or balloon modelling; further notes with concern that this lack of funding means that in some parts of England and Wales a course of lip-reading classes can cost as much as 300 per year, meaning the lifeline to continued social interaction and employment which lip-reading can provide remains out of reach for many of the most vulnerable in society; further notes that without the increased level of funding that this classification will provide, as many as one in five lip-reading classes across England and Wales are under threat of closure in the next 12 months; and calls on the Department for Business, Innovation and Skills and the Skills Funding Agency to recognise lip-reading as an essential skill and reclassify it accordingly.

Signatures by party: Liberal Democrat 15, Labour 12, Social Democratic and Labour Party 2, Alliance 1, Conservative 1.