Government publishes the latest round of police procurement data

https://www.gov.uk/government/news/government-calls-for-greater-collaboration-between-police-forces-to-drive-down-costs 
24 August 2016

Government publishes the latest round of police procurement data

New data on police procurement highlights the need for police forces to push opportunities to collaborate in order to deliver greater value for money for the taxpayer.

Since 2010/11 forces have saved in excess of £290m through better procurement and collaboration, but new information released today shows that that there are still many areas where forces could work together to identify savings.

The release is part of the Government’s transparency agenda to make the police more accountable to the public, and provide information on the prices paid by police for 18 essential items including forensic, telephony and office supplies. Forces are also asked to report on the extent to which they have collaborated to purchase these items. […]

Today’s release follows the publication in September 2015 of the prices paid by the police for items of vehicles, uniform and related equipment and will allow the public to further compare all 43 forces in England Wales. Some of the items in today’s release illustrate the complex and changing demand on police resources, for example for the analysis of mobile telephones.

The items included are: DNA test, toxicology test, mobile phone examination, forensic stain analysis, credit report, temporary staff – administrator, hire car one day hire, hire car 30-day hire, standard office white copier paper, telephone Interpretation - including call recording (Mon-Fri working hours), face to face interpreter (Mon-Fri working hours) - excluding mileage and expenses, standard office cleaning - excluding specialist cleaning (Force average), gas - Police HQ, laptop PC, desktop PC, monitor 19”, monitor 21”, telecom call charges - local peak (0800 to 1800).

The force-by-force comparison can be found here:

Face to face interpreting

https://www.police.uk/procurement/services/face-to-face-interpreting-for-4-hours-half-day/

Telephone interpreting

https://www.police.uk/procurement/services/telephone-interpreting-inc-recording-services-per-minute/

Courtroom interpreting contract winner announces hiring spree

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/courtroom-interpreting-contract-winner-announces-hiring-spree/5057192.article 
19 August 2016 by Monidipa Fouzder

Courtroom interpreting contract winner announces hiring spree

The Leeds-headquartered international language services company set to take over from Capita to provide courtroom interpreting in October is looking to hire more than 3,500 language experts.

Thebigword today announced that it has signed a contract worth up to £120m to provide face-to-face and telephone interpreting and translations to the Ministry of Justice from 31 October.

The business employs more than 550 people across 11 offices and says it already has 8,000 linguists.

Now that the contract has been signed, thebigword says it will recruit more than 100 new support staff at its Leeds office and more than 3,500 language experts.

Thebigword chief executive Larry Gould said (pictured): ‘The MoJ decided to work with us because we have the experience, infrastructure and word-class technology.

‘We already work with a range of large-scale public sector organisations around the world and they know they can trust us to deliver. This is a fantastic deal for thebigword and further cements our position as the largest interpreting services provider in Europe.’

More than four years after the controversial outsourcing of courtroom interpreting to a single contractor, new arrangements will replace Capita Translation and Interpreting’s contract, which expires on 30 October.

The contract for non-spoken language services has reportedly been offered to Cambridge firm Clarion Interpreting Limited.

The contract for independent quality assurance has reportedly been offered to The Language Shop, a business originally set up by the London Borough of Newham.

Providing further details about its deal, thebigword says it will deliver ‘dedicated online portals that seamlessly and instantly connect linguists with clients needing language support’.

The contract also requires thebigword to develop a trainee scheme in conjunction with the independent quality assurance supplier.

Gould said thebigword will continue to push for contracts similar to its MoJ contract in the private and public sectors.

‘We are extremely proud of the work we do breaking down language bariers around the world everyday and are now looking forward to helping deliver justice in the UK,’ he added.

‘It’s also fantastic to be welcoming thousands more skilled linguists to thebigword family.’

The Oldham surgery where doctors rely on people in the waiting room to do their translation

http://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/news/greater-manchester-news/oldham-surgery-doctors-rely-people-11744894 
13 August 2016

The Oldham surgery where doctors rely on people in the waiting room to do their translation

Doctors at an Oldham surgery placed into special measures by inspectors are relying on people in the waiting room to translate for other patients.

The Care Quality Commission say Greenbank Surgery in Glodwick has a high number of patients who don’t speak English as a first language, and that interpreters who speak Urdu and Punjabi are needed frequently.

However, an inspection of the surgery, which is in Barley Clough Medical Centre, found that formal interpreters were not being used, and instead staff were relying on relatives or other patients who were in the waiting room to provide the service.

It also said that despite the high number of patients who don’t speak English, all information in the waiting room was only in English.

These were just some of a catalogue of failings that resulted in Greenbank being placed into special measures.

The CQC rated it ‘inadequate’ overall and have warned it will be shut down if improvements are not made within the next six months. […]