European Legal Interpreters & Translators Association (EULITA) Friday 25 th November 2011

1. European Legal Interpreters & Translators Association (EULITA) Friday 25th November 2011 Metropolitan Police Service (MPS) Mechanisms to Determine Quality in Interpreting & Translating Amanda Clement MPS Language & Cultural Services (LCS) EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

2. Today's Presentation • Background to the LCS programme of change • Objectives and benefits of the LCS programme • Projects successfully delivered so far • Current projects planned for delivery • Results for the LCS programme • Feedback from our customers • Looking ahead to the 2012 London Olympics and beyond EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

3. The challenges we face in policing London EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

4. The need for change in delivering our service A review of the existing system concluded that it needed to be brought up to date to meet the demands of modern policing, due to: • Limited linguistic resources availability e.g. interpreters • Uneven distribution of work across resources • Increasing costs • Annual cost of £13m • Rise of 45% since 2003 • Travel accounting for 33% • Rising waiting times • Loss of 200 hours daily • Changing demographic of London Analysis of crime trends and data conducted as part of the review further emphasised the need for change. EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

5. Quicker access to linguistic support Proactive approach Improved efficiency Greater internal resources Changing work practices and cultural attitudes Revision of task allocation Developing skills of workforces Raising awareness / interest from external partners and other agencies Proliferation of shared services Increasing use of technology What we aim to achieve EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

6. The launch of the Interpreter Deployments Team in September 2009 A 24 hour call centre set up to manage all requests for the scheduling and deployment of interpreters Approximately 100 assignments per day and 3,000 per month Over 65,000 assignments have been completed in two years 90% of all assignments are allocated within 30 minutes (70% within 15 minutes) MPS list consists of 383 interpreters and 60 translators in 86 languages The enhancement of the Specialist Deployments Team from July 2009 The team improves the way that MPS staff with linguistic, cultural and life skills are recruited, managed and utilised on assignments via a volunteer database Number of volunteers increased from 500 to nearly 1,000 In 2011, the team has quadrupled its deployment rate and completed over 1,000 assignments In last year: 71 languages; 23% Covert / Homicide cases; 21% Tamil culture; 18% Arabic New Common European Framework of Reference (CEFR) benchmarked self-assessment; Skills recorded against MPS Language Framework Our achievements so far:Interpreter and Specialist Deployments EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

7. In a typical week for Interpreter Deployments – 09.10.11 • 651 deployments • 49 languages • 59% detainee interviews • 26% victim related • 9% witness related • 7% 1st appearance + Virtual Courts • 90% of assignments within 30 mins • 96% of assignments within 60 mins Polish Romanian Portuguese Lithuanian Arabic Turkish Bengali Spanish Punjabi Tamil 26% Polish Romanian Portuguese Lithuanian Arabic Turkish Bengali Spanish Punjabi Tamil EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

8. 49% 33% Westminster Brent Newham Ealing & Southall Haringey Lambeth Enfield Southwark Tower Hamlets Murder Rape & Serious Sexual Offenses Human Exploitation Child Abuse Kidnap Counter-Terrorism Flying Squad Traffic In a typical week for Interpreter Deployments – 09.10.11 EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

9. 18% Arabic Polish Spanish BSL Portuguese Punjabi Romanian French Turkish Specialist Deployments for 2010 - 2011 • 631 deployments • 60 languages, including: • Guinea Bissau • Street slang • Bravanese • Community, culture, faith • Autism, shorthand, genealogy EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

10. 21% 23% Covert Homicide Westminster Child Abuse Sexual Offences Non-MPS Counter Terrorism Lambeth Economic Crime Traffic Tamil culture Pakistani culture Shia faith Iraq/Iran Irish traveller community Muslim culture Kurdish culture Trinidad culture Sikh politics Bengali culture Georgian culture Specialist Deployments for 2010 - 2011 EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

11. All interpreters must be registered with National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI) British Sign Language (BSL) interpreters and lip speakers must be registered with National Registers of Communication Professionals working with Deaf and Deaf blind People (NRCPD) All translators must have Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIoL) Diploma in Translation or equivalent Qualifications for MPS Interpreters and Translators MPS Test is available for 53 languages, with 2 test sittings per year Equivalent level to Diploma in Public Service Interpreting DPSI (C1) Recognised by NRPSI as threshold qualification to work within police service (s) All interpreters and translators must demonstrate quality experience in legal interpreting and translation Preference will be given to those that demonstrate familiarity with police and court procedures All must secure MPS security clearance before being listed All are issued with letters of engagement detailing their responsibilities and our expectations Our achievements so far:Interpreter Standards and Qualifications EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

12. Training for MPS Interpreters and Translators Induction training Assignment-specific training Administrative skills training Focus on Remote Interpreting training Selection of interpreters with specific training Continuing Personal or Professional Development (CPD) points recorded on training record Our achievements so far:Interpreter Standards and Qualifications We will also be conducting a review of our other training activities, for example, rolling training schedules. EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

13. Remote Interpreting will eliminate long wait times and minimise travel delays reducing taxpayer costs providing a faster, more streamlined service Two hub sites are in operation at Hendon and Ealing Three more hub sites are under construction at the Isle of Dogs, Lewisham and Paddington Four further hub sites have been selected at Morden, Edmonton, Gipsy Hill and Ilford Eight pilot sites have been installed in four MPS boroughs - Westminster, Lambeth, Ealing and Newham 34 units are in daily use at these MPS boroughs Our current projects:Remote Interpreting via Video Conferencing Technology EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

14. The programme comprises of comprehensive skills assessments, development plans and training courses Level 1 Since June 2010, 148 officers have completed Level 1 Language Training with a pass rate of 70%, of whom 41% achieved the highest grade 110 further officers due to complete training by end of November, with enrolment open for 2012 Level 2 78 candidates out of a total of 82 passed the Level 2 Language Training - the certificate of bi-lingual skills Around 45 officers starting courses between October and December 2011 Looking to accredit approx. 80 officers and staff per year in future Planned By December 2011, 500 officers and staff will have received Level 1 or 2 Language Training Four more Level 2 Language Training courses are planned for 2011 Level 2 training planned for 2012 with assessment in January to March 2013 Level 3 Language Training courses are planned for 2012, which will give candidates a degree-level qualification Our current projects:Officer Language Training EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

15. Our results so far • With these initiatives, the programme has achieved savings of £9.6 millionbetween 2009 and 2011 • We are expected to achieve savings of £17.5 million once the programme is completed in 2012 • The cost of language services has been reduced from £12.5 million to below £9 million in the last 2 years. • The improvements have also reduced interpreter travel time by 27% • The video-conferencing pilot has already reduced the cost of assignments by £68 against average assignment costs and the time taken to complete an assignment (including travel time) has been halved EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

16. In a recent survey for the Interpreter Deployments Team Overall satisfaction with the level of service - 94% of respondents rated the level of service provided by the IDT as good or very good Ease of Use - 92% of respondents rated the service as good or very good for ease of use Overall perception of the IDT - 92% of respondents were left with a good or very good perception of the IDT Feedback from the Level 1 Language Training courses Recent feedback from an MPS borough showed how the courses had improved officer’s confidence, provided a more professional service and removed communication barriers that had hindered community engagement Improving language skills - 90% of Level 1 attendees said that the course improved their overall language skills e.g. speaking, listening, reading Recent feedback for the Specialist Deployments team Overall satisfaction with the level of service - 88% of volunteers rated the rated the level of service provided by Specialist Deployments as good or very good Performance of volunteers - 97% of users rated the level of service provided by volunteers as good or very good The response from our customers EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

17. We aim to provide comprehensive linguistic support services to all areas of the MPS Full roll-out of video-conferencing coverage across all 32 MPS boroughs - two video-conferencing units will be installed at each police station to link to the nine hub sites across the MPS Introduction of an Initial Contact solution - an interactive touch screen tool for deaf and non-English speakers to communicate with police officers at police station front counters and custody suites Installation of a scheduling software system that aims to provide a range of services, including scheduling and managing resources, keeping a record of skill sets and billing Providing access to telephone interpreting from officers' radios Extending our services to a wider audience, including other police forces, agencies and the wider Greater London Assembly (GLA) family Looking ahead to the Olympics EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation

18. Thank You EULITA Conference 2011 - MPS LCS Presentation