Interpreters for non-English-speaking benefit claimants cost taxpayers £27m

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/politics/2025/01/04/interpreters-benefit-claimants-cost-taxpayers-27m/

4 January 2025

Interpreters for non-English-speaking benefit claimants cost taxpayers £27m

Interpreters for benefits claimants have cost the taxpayer £27 million over the last five years, official figures show.

Telegraph analysis of data released under government transparency rules shows how Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) spending on interpretation services has shot up since 2019.

The highest annual spend was in 2022, when the department spent £8 million on interpretation, rising from £1.7 million in 2019.

The cost of interpretation at DWP has fallen back but remains at record levels, costing the taxpayer £4 million in 2023.

Nearly a million calls to the DWP Universal Credit helpline required a foreign language interpreter last year. […]

 

PQ: 3 January 2025

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2024-12-12.HL3427.h

Health Services: Languages

Department of Health and Social Care written question – answered at on 3 January 2025.

Baroness Coussins Crossbench

To ask His Majesty's Government whether they plan to amend the Accessible Information Standard so that it is aligned with the recommendation of Healthwatch England to cover the needs of those who speak little or no English.

Baroness Merron The Parliamentary Under-Secretary for Health and Social Care

We have no current plans to make such a change to the Accessible Information Standard (AIS). The AIS aims to make sure that people who have a disability, impairment or sensory loss get information that they can access and understand. NHS England is responsible for the AIS and has completed a review as part of the revision of the standard.

Spoken and community languages are specifically excluded from the AIS and have not been included as part of its review due to the legislative basis of the AIS and its focus on meeting the needs of disabled people.

The General Medical Council’s guidance states that all possible efforts must be made to ensure effective communication with patients. This includes arrangements to meet patients’ communication needs in languages other than English. Where language is a problem in discussing health matters, NHS England and NHS Scotland’s guidance states that a professional interpreter should always be offered.

NHS England is aware of safety investigations and other issues relating to translation services and has completed a strategic review and options appraisal to identify if and how NHS England can support improvements in the commissioning and delivery of community language translation and interpretation services.

Series of reports highlights issues with interpreters and people’s experiences of using them while attempting to access immigration justice in Wales

https://www.bevanfoundation.org/resources/experiences-of-justice-5-interpreters/

2^nd January 2025

Edition 5 of the Bevan Foundation’s new series of reports highlights issues with interpreters and people’s experiences of using them while attempting to access immigration justice in Wales.

Part 5: Experiences of Justice series- Interpreters (6 Parts)

In this fifth edition of our six-part series of reports into lived experiences at the heart of the immigration legal services crisis, we explore people’s experiences of using interpreters and how this impacts their ability to access justice.  

Our study found multiple concerns with the ways in which interpreters are trained and appointed, levels of accountability, and the impact that poor interpretation can have on legal outcomes. Putting mistakes right can be a long and difficult process that comes at high personal cost. People told us about:

·      crucial mistakes in interpretation not being picked up by legal representatives or the Home Office

·      people having their cases refused, being detained, or being threatened with deportation as a result of inaccurate interpretation

·      the Home Office appointing interpreters who speak a strongly different dialect from the people they are interpreting for, or who have not learned the language they are interpreting to a high enough standard 

·      interpreters being paid commission by solicitor firms controlling access to legal help and sometimes asking for financial or sexual favours in return for solicitor appointments.

Some people found their interpreters to be supportive and were given key contacts or advice from this source. Many people found interpretation services offered via both the Home Office and legal representatives to be inadequate and/or damaging to their legal case.

https://www.bevanfoundation.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/12/Experiences-of-Justice-5-Interpreters.pdf