Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Baroness Twycross on (1) 3 December (HL2738), and (2) 17 December (HL3301), why the Written Answer of 3 December stated that no guidance on translation had been issued by the Cabinet Office but the Written Answer of 17 December stated the Guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality for Civil Servants, published on 14 May, remains in force; and whether they will now correct the official record.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
No specific guidance has been directly issued by the Cabinet Office on the topic of reducing spending by the civil service on translation into foreign languages. The Guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality Requirements for Civil Servants signposts to another department's guidance that was issued in 2013.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the answer by Baroness Twycross on 17 December (HL3302), what records the Crown Commercial Service holds on which public bodies have taken out contracts for translation services using the framework agreement on translation into foreign languages.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Crown Commercial Service (CCS) collects information from suppliers for public bodies that have taken out contracts for translation services under its Language Services agreement (RM6141) only. These records contain the names of the public sector bodies (contracting authority) and their spend through the framework, an aggregate of £5,402,890 from 10 May 2021 to 10 December 2024.
Public bodies that have used the CCS commercial agreement RM6141 Language Services include: Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council, Bridgend County Borough Council, British Library, British Transport Police, Cambridgeshire and Peterborough NHS Foundation Trust, Commonwealth War Graves Commission, Department for Transport, Department for Work and Pensions, Department of Health and Social Care, Environment Agency, Equality and Human Rights Commission, High Speed Two (HS2) Ltd, HM Revenue & Customs, Intellectual Property Office, London Borough of Brent Council, London Borough of Hammersmith and Fulham Council, London Borough of Lambeth Council, London Borough of Tower Hamlets Council, Mid and South Essex NHS Foundation Trust, Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Housing, Communities & Local Government, National Crime Agency, NHS England, NHS England - East of England, NHS England Sustainable Improvement Team, NHS Improvement, NHS South, Central and West Commissioning Unit, Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust, Office for National Statistics, Office for Nuclear Regulation, Oxfordshire County Council, Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, Serious Fraud Office, Surrey and Borders Partnership NHS Foundation Trust, The Pensions Regulator, Transport for London, UK Health Security Agency, Westminster City Council and Wokingham Borough Council.
Information on individual contracts should be publicly available on Contracts Finder at the following link: https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to (1) the Written Statement by the former Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government on 12 March 2013 (HC 5WS-6WS), and (2) the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 17 December (HL3302), whether they have made an assessment of the cost of translation to the public purse.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The Cabinet Office does not hold information on the total cost of translation across Government. Individual departments are responsible for determining their own translation requirements.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 3 December (HL2738), whether the guidance against unnecessary translation of documents into foreign languages in paragraph 44 of Guidance on Diversity and Inclusion and Impartiality Requirements for Civil Servants remains Civil Service policy.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The current version of this guidance published on 14 May 2024 remains in place.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Baroness Twycross on 3 December 2024 (HL2738), what is the aggregate value of the Crown Commercial Service framework agreement on translation into foreign languages.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
The aggregated value of spend on translation via the Crown Commercial Services language services framework (RM6141) is £5,402,890. (correct as of 10/12/2024).
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask His Majesty's Government what steps they are taking to reduce spending by the civil service on translation into foreign languages, and what guidance has been given on this.
Answered by Baroness Twycross - Baroness in Waiting (HM Household) (Whip)
Individual departments are responsible for determining their own requirements for language services and ensuring these deliver good value for money for the taxpayer and a good service.
No specific guidance is issued by the Cabinet Office on this topic. However, the Crown Commercial Service does provide a route to market for language services, including innovative and cost effective solutions. These include options such as Telephone Interpreting, Video Remote Interpreting (VRI/VRS), and advanced technological solutions such as machine translation, all aimed at providing the public sector with solutions that may support improved services delivery and reduce costs.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 5 June 2019 (HL15875), what is the latest timetable for laying the secondary legislation on electoral registers, following the Cabinet Office’s engagement with stakeholders since June 2019.
Answered by Earl Howe - Shadow Deputy Leader of the House of Lords
The Government is currently making plans to deliver an ambitious programme of measures to strengthen electoral integrity. We will make an announcement on our intentions in due course.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answers by Lord Young of Cookham on 5 June 2018 (HL7937) and 20 November 2018 (HL11157), what is their proposed timetable for amending the secondary legislation on electoral registers in the light of the commitments made by Ministers during the Data Protection Bill; and what were the conclusions of the discussions with the Parliamentary Parties Panel on this matter.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Parliamentary Parties Panel indicated broad support for the proposal to amend secondary legislation on electoral registers, in light of the commitments made during the Data Protection Bill to support democratic engagement. The Government intends to engage further with the appropriate stakeholders, with a view to then making any necessary amendments to secondary legislation.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government, further to the Written Answer by Lord Young of Cookham on 5 June (HL7937), what is the status of their review of existing electoral registration legislation; and what discussions on supporting democratic engagement they have held with political parties.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government has been working to ensure there is legal and operational clarity for political parties and elected representatives, including considering the scope for amendments to secondary legislation on electoral registers to reflect changes made in the Data Protection Act 2018.
We intend to discuss this further with the Parliamentary Parties Panel in due course.
Asked by: Lord Gilbert of Panteg (Conservative - Life peer)
Question to the Cabinet Office:
To ask Her Majesty's Government whether they intend to review secondary legislation on access to electoral registers to ensure that the Data Protection Bill, once in force, will not negatively affect the use by elected representatives or political parties of the electoral register for the purposes of democratic engagement.
Answered by Lord Young of Cookham
The Government will review existing legislation on access to electoral registers to ensure elected representatives and political parties can continue to use the electoral register for the purposes of democratic engagement. This reflects the commitment by Ministers during the Data Protection Bill (HL Deb, 14 May 2018, Col. 418). We will also engage with political parties through the Parliamentary Parties Panel.