- the multi-lingual nature of modern British Society.
- the legal and good practice requirements that the public services
should provide equal and effective services to each individual, irrespective
of language and culture. Reliable communication, where a language is
not fully shared, is a basic pre-requisite for that to happen.
- risk to both public services, and their clients, of employing unqualified
interpreters and of asking family members, fellow patients, co-defendants
and children to act as interpreters.
- need for a nationally consistent professional structure for public
service interpreters, to allow:
- access to interpreters in a range of languages, including ones which
may not be available locally
- access to interpreters from outside a local area, where employing
a local one may be inappropriate e.g. in domestic disputes in a small
language community
- public service interpreters to earn professional recognition
- coherent growth and development for interpreters, and inter-disciplinary
approaches to coherent working practices and collaboration.
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