FOI release

Foreign Language Translation and Interpretation

Case reference FOI2025/01099

Received 29 October 2025

Published 7 November 2025

Request

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), I am requesting the following information regarding your council's expenditure on foreign language translation and interpretation services. For the calendar year 2024-2025 as well as the fiscal year 2024/2025, please provide the following: 1. The total amount spent on foreign language translation (written documents) and interpretation (spoken, including telephone and face-to-face) services across all council departments/services. 2. The number of foreign language translation/interpretation requests received and fulfilled in each year (e.g., 2024-25: 500 requests, 450 fulfilled). 3. A list of the 15 most common foreign language translation requests received with number of requests and fulfilled (e.g., 1. Polish 250 requests, 100 fulfilled) 4. Details of any current contracts or providers for these services (e.g., provider name, contract start/end dates, total value (excluding commercially sensitive pricing). If the council uses an inhouse team rather than contractors, please specify this. For clarity, this request is limited to services for non-English spoken or written languages (e.g., Polish, Urdu, Arabic). Please exclude any costs related to British Sign Language (BSL), other sign languages, Braille, or accessibility services for disabilities, unless they cannot be easily separated out within the statutory FOI cost limits. Please specify if these costs have been included. Please provide in either .PDF, .docx or .xls spreadsheet format where possible. If any part exceeds the Section 12 cost limit, please prioritize items 1 and 2, advise on the excess, and suggest refinements.

Response

Under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), I am requesting the following information regarding your council's expenditure on foreign language translation and interpretation services.

For the calendar year 2024-2025 as well as the fiscal year 2024/2025, please provide the following:

1. The total amount spent on foreign language translation (written documents) and interpretation (spoken, including telephone and face-to-face) services across all council departments/services.

 

2024/25 (fiscal year) - £3,566.45

2024/25 (calendar year) - £4,149.20

 

2. The number of foreign language translation/interpretation requests received and fulfilled in each year (e.g., 2024-25: 500 requests, 450 fulfilled).

 

Information not held

3. A list of the 15 most common foreign language translation requests received with number of requests  and fulfilled (e.g., 1. Polish 250 requests, 100 fulfilled)

Information not recorded

4. Details of any current contracts or providers for these services (e.g., provider name, contract start/end dates, total value (excluding commercially sensitive pricing). If the council uses an inhouse team rather than contractors, please specify this.

No current contract in place

For clarity, this request is limited to services for non-English spoken or written languages (e.g., Polish, Urdu, Arabic). Please exclude any costs related to British Sign Language (BSL), other sign languages, Braille, or accessibility services for disabilities, unless they cannot be easily separated out within the statutory FOI cost limits. Please specify if these costs have been included.

Documents

There are no documents for this release.

This is Tunbridge Wells Borough Council's response to a freedom of information (FOI) or environmental information regulations (EIR) request.