Decision details

To formalise the Council’s policy for the appropriate provision of interpretation and translation services in support of service delivery.

To agree the interpretation and translation policy for Leicester City Council.

The council is experiencing an increase in the number of linguistic language requests. Currently there is no guidance or policy in place that informs Council staff when they should provide interpretation and translation, and therefore inconsistency across the Council in the way these are provided. Inconsistent practice and providing translation as a matter of course is costly too – and these costs are not being controlled or managed. This is particularly true for translation services.

The department for communities and local government and the commission on integration and cohesion’s reports both recommend that local authorities and their partners should consider moving from a position of automatic translation of all documents into community languages, towards a more selective approach – driven by need, and set firmly in the context of communications strategies for all residents.

The policy provides a framework to help individual service areas determine when it is appropriate to provide interpretation and translation, and encourages the use of English as the city’s main language.

To not have a policy, which would lead to inconsistencies in service delivery.