Dear Sir/Madam

Thank you for your request for information about :

Interpreting & Translation Services

Received on 23/02/2022

This request has been formally logged in our FOI management system and has been assigned the reference REQ09881.
We will endeavour to respond to your request as soon as possible. Please note that due to the current Coronavirus situation in the UK, your request may take longer than usual to respond to and potentially, it could exceed the statutory deadline of 20 working days. Please be assured that we are working to respond to all requests and we appreciate your patience during this extraordinary period.

Please remember to quote the reference number REQ09881 in any future communications.

Yours sincerely,
Information Management

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu yn y ddwy iaith. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn ôl eich dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.

The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh or both, and will respond to you according to your preference. Corresponding in Welsh will not lead to delay.

Disclaimer/Ymwadiad

This email contains information intended for the addressee only and may be confidential, the subject of legal or professional privilege, or be otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient of this message, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose, distribute or copy the email to any other party. This email and any attached file are the property of Newport City Council.

When you email Newport City Council, you consent to the Council monitoring and reading any such emails for the purposes of security and legislative compliance. For the full disclaimer please access http://www.newport.gov.uk/disclaimer.

Mae'r e-bost hwn yn cynnwys gwybodaeth y bwriedir ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn unig a gall fod yn gyfrinachol, yn destun ragorfraint gyfreithiol neu broffesiynol, neu fel arall wedi’i diogelu rhag cael ei rhyddhau. Os nad chi yw derbynnydd bwriadedig y neges hon, a fyddech cystal â rhoi gwybod i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a pheidio â datgelu, dosbarthu neu gopïo’r e-bost i unrhyw barti arall. Mae’r e-bost hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn eiddo i Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd.

Pan fyddwch yn anfon e-bost at Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd, rydych yn cydsynio i’r Cyngor fonitro a darllen unrhyw e-byst o’r fath at ddibenion cydymffurfio â diogelwch ac â deddfwriaeth. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch i http://www.newport.gov.uk/ymwadiad

Dear J Cook,

Please accept our apologies for the delay in responding.

Thank you for your recent request for information which I have enclosed
below for ease of reference. Your request has been treated in accordance
with the Freedom of Information Act 2000 and/or the Environmental
Information Regulations 2004.

Your Request: REQ09881

I can confirm that we hold information that falls within the scope of your
request. The answers to your questions have been provided in Red Text
below and in the attached document.

Can we please have a copy of the successful tender for the provision of
translation and interpreting services to the council under the FOI Act?

The Council uses 2 suppliers for Interpretation & Translation Services. 
The main supplier is for the Wales Interpretation and Translation Service
(WITS) provided by Cardiff City Council, using Regulation 12 (1) Public
Contracts between Entities within the Public Sector, the Collaboration
agreement is attached.   We also use the Gwent Ethnic Minority Service
(GEMS) interpretation and translation service which is an in-house service
as GEMS is administered by the Council and is a collaborative service with
Blaenau Gwent, Caerphilly, Monmouthshire and Torfaen.

Please could you answer the following questions as well.

1. What is the breakdown/number of all translation and interpretation
services per language including spend per annum for your organisation (for
the last 3 financial years).

The Council’s average total spend per annum for the last 3 years is
£120K.  An average has been provided as this can increase/decrease
dependent on demand as Children & Adult Services & Education are the main
users. 

Language Percentage
Afraan Oromo 5
Amaharic 4
Arabic 5
Bengali 21
BSL 11
Czech 1
Farsi 1
Hungarian 1
Kurdish Sorani 7
Lingala 2
Mandarin 2
Pashto 3
Polish 1
Portugese 4
Punjab Pakistan 7
Romanian 8
Slovak 5
Syltheti 1
Spanish 4
Thai 1
Tigrinya 2
Turkish 2
Urdu 1
Vietnamese 4
100%

2. Do you currently offer a translation and/or interpreting service
(in-house)? If not, who is your current supplier for language services

If yes

a. who is the person/service responsible for interpreting and translation
services within your organisation? Please provide contact details and job
title.

As stated above GEMS who provide the following languages:

Arabic, Czech, Hungarian, Italian, Polish, Portuguese, Romanian, Slovak,
Spanish.

b. what system do you use to deliver this service?

As GEMS employs permanent translators/interpreters, there is an in-house
system.

c. do you provide your services in-house (throughout the organisation?) As
above

d. do you provide services external to the organisation? As above

e. How much do you charge for your services?

This information is classed as commercially sensitive and is exempt from
disclosure under section 43 (2) of The Freedom of Information Act 2000
because its disclosure under this Act would, or would be likely to,
prejudice the commercial interests of any person (including the public
authority holding it).

3. If you do offer an in-house service, do you offer:

- face to face interpreting services Yes

- sensory support services (including BSL) No

- telephone interpreting services Yes

- written translation services Yes

4. Do you use in-house casual interpreters/translations to deliver the
service?

Not often, due to the small Team employed and for the urgent need of
interpretation and translation it is impossible to do so, so the Wales
Interpretation and Translation Service is used instead.

5. Do you use in-house permanent/fixed term interpreters/translators to
deliver the service? Yes

6. Do you use language providers to deliver the service? No

I hope this provides the information you were looking for; if there is any
further information that we can provide, please submit a further request.
If you have any queries about this email or if you are unhappy with the
service you have received in relation to your request and wish to make a
complaint or request a review of our decision, please contact me.

If you are not content with the subsequent outcome of your complaint, you
may apply directly to the Information Commissioner for a decision.
Generally, the ICO cannot make a decision unless you have exhausted the
Councils complaints procedure. To contact the Information Commissioner
click [1]HERE.

For future reference, all Freedom of Information requests can now be
submitted via the link below.

[2]www.newport.gov.uk/foi

Kind regards,

Information Management

Mae’r Cyngor yn croesawu gohebiaeth yn Gymraeg, Saesneg neu yn y ddwy
iaith. Byddwn yn cyfathrebu â chi yn ôl eich dewis. Ni fydd gohebu yn
Gymraeg yn arwain at oedi.

The Council welcomes correspondence in English or Welsh or both, and will
respond to you according to your preference. Corresponding in Welsh will
not lead to delay.

Disclaimer/Ymwadiad

This email contains information intended for the addressee only and may be
confidential, the subject of legal or professional privilege, or be
otherwise protected from disclosure. If you are not the intended recipient
of this message, please notify the sender immediately and do not disclose,
distribute or copy the email to any other party. This email and any
attached file are the property of Newport City Council.

When you email Newport City Council, you consent to the Council monitoring
and reading any such emails for the purposes of security and legislative
compliance. For the full disclaimer please access
http://www.newport.gov.uk/disclaimer.

Mae'r e-bost hwn yn cynnwys gwybodaeth y bwriedir ar gyfer y derbynnydd yn
unig a gall fod yn gyfrinachol, yn destun ragorfraint gyfreithiol neu
broffesiynol, neu fel arall wedi’i diogelu rhag cael ei rhyddhau. Os nad
chi yw derbynnydd bwriadedig y neges hon, a fyddech cystal â rhoi gwybod
i'r anfonwr ar unwaith a pheidio â datgelu, dosbarthu neu gopïo’r e-bost i
unrhyw barti arall. Mae’r e-bost hon ac unrhyw ffeiliau atodedig yn eiddo
i Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd.

Pan fyddwch yn anfon e-bost at Gyngor Dinas Casnewydd, rydych yn cydsynio
i’r Cyngor fonitro a darllen unrhyw e-byst o’r fath at ddibenion
cydymffurfio â diogelwch ac â deddfwriaeth. I weld yr ymwadiad llawn ewch
i http://www.newport.gov.uk/ymwadiad

References

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