A few days ago I was reading the Barking & Dagenham Post (BD Post) and I was quite surprised!

The front-page was about the BNP losing all its seats in Barking & Dagenham and I expected the editorial comment to praise the good people of the borough for kicking the ‘racists’ out. (this is how we are usually described by the local press).
I was wrong.

Of course the editorial focussed on our bad results but it also expressed concerns about the fact that with no opposition to Labour it will make important decisions behind closed doors and will be unaccountable to anyone.

It also raised alarming concerns about the cuts that will need to be made in order to reduce the £36m budget deficit.

Indeed in the same issue there was another article about a plan to shut down 17 (out of 23) council buildings in order to cut costs.

That the financial situation of the borough was bad is hardly news, and that is why when BNP councillors delivered their alternative budget the BNP focused on reducing wasteful expenditure and using the savings to reduce the £36m deficit and cut the council tax.

Not surprisingly Labour rejected our proposals and they may have deliberately allowed the council financial situation to deteriorate so that if the BNP gained the control of the council (they knew we had a good chance of achieving it) we would face the fury of residents angered by the unpopular decisions we would be forced to make in order to deal with the problem.
Unfortunately things went differently but it now means that Labour will have to deal with the problem they created in the first place.

It is likely that many council workers will be sacked and council tax will increase, who will take the blame for it?

Labour of course.

The British National Party would have implemented common sense policies, such us cutting spending on interpreters and translation services, stopping the funding of immigrant groups, bringing in house some services that are now outsourced, thereby hugely reducing the salaries of senior council workers.

We all know it is very unlikely Labour will do any or all of the above, and that is why in the next 1-2 years they may lose so much support they will regret having taken the council in the first place.

It will be interesting to see how they justify an increase in the council tax or the cutting of some vital services when at the same time fat-cat civil servants are getting six figure salaries and ring fenced pensions.

Until now they have managed it by focusing on the ‘fascist’ threat and mobilising people like the UAF to stop the British National Party, a crafty and underhand way to move voters attention away from Labour failure and local politics.

Unfortunately for them they cannot do it anymore because the BNP now has no councillors and therefore they have no excuses, or anyone to blame.

Labour won control of the council but it also got its own poisoned chalice. Hoist on their own petard?

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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This is the reply from East and North Hertfordshire NHS Trust about how much it spent on interpreters and translation:

With reference to your request please find our response set out below:

Invoices received in relation to Interpretation & Translation Services are logged on a database for each financial year so the total cost of the service is detailed as follows:

April 2007 – March 2008 £21,777.51

Updated figure: £ 7,588,632

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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This is the response from West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust to my request about how much it spent on interpreters and translation services:

I am writing to confirm that the West Suffolk Hospital NHS Trust has now completed its search for the information which you requested on 13th March 2009:

How much this trust spent in interpreters and translation in 2008?

£63,000 – This is for the calendar year 2008

Updated figure: £ 6,875,460

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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This is the reply from North Tees & Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust  about how much it spent on interpreters and translation services:

I write in response to your request of 12/03/2009 for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please find below the information you have requested:

North Tees and Hartlepool NHS Foundation Trust spent £57,221 in 2007/08 on provision of interpretation services for foreign language patients.

I hope that this information is satisfactory to your requirements.

Updated figure: £ 6,137,632

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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The reply from Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust to my enquiry about how much it spent on interpreters and translation services:

I refer to your email in which you requested information under the terms of the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

Please find to follow the information as requested:

In 2007/08 Plymouth Hospitals NHS Trust spent £14,546.81 on interpreting services.

If I can be of any further assistance to you please do not hesitate to contact me.

Yours sincerely

Updated figure: £ 6,067,688

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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Here is the reply from Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust to my request for information about how much they spent on interpreters and translation services.

I am writing in response to your e-mail dated 12th March requesting information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000

Nottingham University Hospitals NHS Trust (NUH) came into being on 1st April 2006 and assumed responsibility for the services provided by both the Queen’s Medical Centre (QMC) and Nottingham City Hospital NHS Trust (NCH).

In 2008 the Trust spent £167,993.56 on interpreting services.

Updated figure: £ 5,018,663

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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This is the reply from Portsmouth Hospitals NHS Trust requesting information about how much they spent on interpreters and translation services:

• Under the FOI Act I would like to ask for the following information. How much did the trust spent on interpreters and translation services in 2008?

Please note that the below figures relate to the last complete financial year (2007/08):

£72,146.58 total spend on interpreting services
£60,331.03 specifically on foreign language interpreting

This letter also confirms completion of the request. Please note that copies of this request will be held on file for three years before being confidentially destroyed.

Updated figure: £ 4,710,670

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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This is the reply from Doncaster Primary Care Trust to my request asking for information about how much they spent on interpreters and translation services:

Thank you for your enquiry under the terms of the FOI Act 2000.

In 2008 £128,819 was spent on interpreters and translation.

I trust you will finds this information helpful and please contact us again if we can be of further assistance.

Kind regards

Updated figure: £ 4,578,193

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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This is the reply from Milton Keynes NHS Trust in response to my FoI request asking how much they spent on interpreters and translation services:

Thank you for your request for information which we received on 12 March 2009.

I am pleased to confirm that between January 2008 and December 2008 Milton Keynes NHS Foundation Trust spent £33,181 on Interpreters and translation fees.

Updated figure: £ 4,449,374

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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This is the information available on the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals’ website about how much they spent on interpreters and translation services:

Question 1. How much has the Trust spent on interpreting services in each of the past two financial years?

2. I would also like to see a breakdown of names and amounts paid to contractors who provide these services to the Trust.

Response 1.

2005/06 – £81,000
2006/07 – £85,000
2007/08 – £97,000
2008/09 – £93,000

2. 2006/07 – This information is not readily available due to a change of computer system. We can confirm that the Norfolk and Norwich University Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust holds information that falls within the description specified in your request. However, we estimate that it will cost more than the appropriate limit to consider your request. The appropriate limit is specified in regulations and is set at £450 for a NHS Foundation Trust.

The appropriate limit represents the estimated cost of one person spending two and a half days in determining whether the Trust holds the information, and locating, retrieving and extracting the information. Consequently, the Trust is not obliged by the Freedom of Information Act 2000 to respond to this element of your request (see section 12(1))
However, we have narrowed the scope of the request and have provided information for the financial year 2007/08:

Cintra = £63,000
Language Line = £2,000
Intran = £32,000 (via consortium arrangement with Norfolk County Council)
Note: The Trust participates in a public sector collaborative purchasing scheme for purchasing translation services. The partnership, Intran, is hosted by Norfolk County Council.

Intran Partnership Agreement

Updated figure: £ 4,416,193 (the figure include only the expenditure for the year 2007/08)

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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This is the reply from Plymouth Teaching Primary Care Trust, to my FoI request asking how much they spent on interpreters and translation services:

RE: – FoI request for information

On the 09/03/2009 you requested the total spend for translation and interpretation costs for the year 2007- 2008, using the Freedom of Information Act.

Plymouth Teaching Primary Care Trust is in accordance with Section 1.-(1) (a) & (b) of the Act is supplying the information to you.

The cost was £52,217.65

Updated figure: £ 4,319,193

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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This is the response from Ipswich Hospital to my FoI request asking how much it spent on interpreters and translation services:

Thank you for your recent enquiry regarding information held by The Ipswich Hospital NHS Trust:

How much this trust spent in interpreters and translation in 2008?

Your enquiry has been dealt with in accordance with the Trust’s Freedom of Information Act 2000 Policy and Procedures. We are pleased to enclose the information you requested:

£16,000

Updated figure: £ 4,266,976

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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This is the reply from Oxford Radcliffe Hospitals NHS Trust in response to my request for information under the FoI Act asking how much they spent on interpreters and translation services:

Re:FOI/562

In response to your request for information, I confirm that in 2007/08 the
Trust spent £64,377 on interpreting services.

Updated figure: £ 4,250,976

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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Below is the reply from Trafford Primary Care Trust to my request under the FoI Act about how much they spent on  interpreters and translation services:

I am writing with regards to your request for information under the Freedom of Information Act 2000.

How much the trust spent in interpreters and translation in 2008?

In the financial year 2007/2008 (1st April 2007 – 31st March 2008), the PCT spent £12,017 on interpreters and translation. We do not currently have the information for 2008/2009

Yours sincerely

Updated figure: £ 3,569,298

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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Below you will find the reply by Warwickshire Primary Care Trust to my FoI request for information about how much they spent on interpreters and translation services:

Thank you for your request under the freedom of information Act (2000)

The total amount the Warwickshire PCT has spent on interpreting /translation service during 07/08 was £16,192.

The figures are not yet available from April 08 to March 09.

I hope this is of use to you

Regards

Updated figure: £ 3,557,281

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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Below you will find the reply from Airedale NHS Trust in response to my FoI request about  how much it spent on interpreters and translation services:

With response to your FOI request I can tell you that the Trust spent a total of£105,514 in 2006/07 and ££127,541 in 2007/08.

The majority of this money is spent on the “in house” service. Some small sums (included in the figures above) have been spent with agencies but that information is judged commercially confidential and not appropriate for disclosure in the form now sought.

Updated figure: £ 3,541,089 (Including only the sum in the year 2007/08)

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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Here is the reply from Salford Primary Care Trust in response to my request about how much they spent on interpreters and translation services during the year 2007/08:

Freedom of Information Request – Interpretation and Translation

Costs 2007/08
The cost of the contract for face to face interpretation and translation (the cost of which is split 50:50 between the PCT and Social Services) in 2007/08 was £216,174. The translation element of this amounts to £10,500.

This was a cost and volume contract and as demand rose more than envisaged resulted in an additional expenditure of £30,256 (again split 50:50 with Social Services).

In addition to this contract, the PCT also has occasion to use the National Interpreting Service for telephone interpreting. Which had spend of £5,320.40 in the period 2007/08?
With £40,445 paid to other providers during the 07/08 period.

Updated figure: £ 2,989,802

GIUSEPPE DE SANTIS

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