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Departmental Translation Services

Volume 472: debated on Wednesday 27 February 2008

To ask the Secretary of State for Foreign and Commonwealth Affairs what proportion of his Department's translation and interpreting work is outsourced through framework agreements with commercial providers; and if he will make a statement. (189193)

None of the translation work undertaken by the Translation and Interpreting Unit, Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO) Services is outsourced through a framework agreement.

Translation work which cannot be handled by our in-house team of translators is outsourced to a panel of individual freelance translators with whom the FCO has had a long and successful working relationship.

Decisions on outsourcing translation assignments are based on a combination of quality and price, therefore ensuring value for money.