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.

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.