Translation can be hard work at DWP

The Department of Work and Pensions has revealed that its translation services covers over 165 different languages. Non-English speakers can use the service when dealing with the services that the Department offer.

Translation services is a booming sector with companies like Convocco Ltd offering a wide range of services to both the public sector and to private business who deal with non-English speaking markets in Europe, Asia and the rest of the world.

The DWP’s official papers reveal that in 2011 it used interpreters over 271, 695 in a 12 month period – largely using the services of translators over the telephone or at face-to-face meetings. Perhaps unsurprisingly Czech and Polish were the most utilised languages. There are estimated to be over half a million Poles living and working in the UK.

The DWP can call on the services of translation companies such as Convocco in a number of different ways depending on the particular circumstance. Instant access telephone interpreting has become the no1 method over recent years, but face-to-face translations have an important role for more structured and intensive interviews and reviews.

Translation services like Convocco can help

Not all languages are equally popular of course. Not a single person used the service provided for Basque, Catalan, Tongan or Nigerian Pidgin and it was a thin year for translators of French Canadian and Icelandic as the DWP only called upon there services once in the whole of the year. Using translation companies like Convocco has meant that Government and Local Authorities can actually streamline their translation service and become more cost-effective despite the growing demands of an increasingly diverse population. Indeed the DWP expects translation costs to fall by 30%

And while over quarter of a million translation calls might seem a lot to the outsider, the DWP actually deals with over 15 million people who are claiming pensions, benefits or use its other services.

The report revealed the Top 10 translated languages were:

·         Polish

·         Slovak

·         Czech

·         Urdu

·         Portuguese 

·         Punjabi

·         Spanish

·         Arabic

·         Russian

·         Bengali

With such a diverse range of speakers requiring translation services organisations like Convocco are constantly looking for a wide range of translators. Translation is a skill, and native speakers of the language don’t always make good translators.