Speak Up, Speak out - What's happening?
NUPIT – the National Union of Professional
Interpreters and Translators - is a branch of Unite, Britain’s
biggest union which represents 1.5 million members working across
the economy. NUPIT’s primary purpose is to campaign for the future
of interpreting and translation services; to meet the needs of its
members and clients.
Back “Speak Up, Speak Out” - the NUPIT campaign to save
professional interpreting and translation services.
What is happening to interpreting
services?
Listing officers in Magistrates’ and Crown Courts currently
directly identify and contact registered interpreters and engage
them directly. Once the assignment is complete, invoices are
processed for each assignment. This is viewed as inefficient.
The Ministry of Justice has therefore explored, with the market
and agencies, how interpretation and translation can be delivered
more efficiently. This exercise is the so-called “competitive
dialogue”.
From this exercise, the Ministry of Justice anticipated
that a “framework agreement” with a number of preferred
suppliers will emerge. This will set out a template or “call-off”
contract where the agency replaces the administrative roles of the
courts and other criminal justice providers.
“Speak Up, Speak Out” knows that this form of outsourcing will
create problems due to poor agencies undercutting quality to win
contracts. High quality interpretation services should be ensured
through the terms of each contract and regulatory responsibilities
upheld.
Now that the MoJ has signed the Framework Agreement with ALS,
there are serious concerns about:
- the inadequate safeguards to the quality of interpreters for
the Criminal Justice System
- the National Agreement becoming obsolete
- the potential danger of data relating to interpreters and the
data of any non-English person in need of an interpreter
being exported to countries outside the EEA.
Unite is committed to campaigning to maintain high professional
standards and accompanying terms and conditions, to ensure the
profession attracts professionals who will deliver the best
interpreting services to clients.
