FOI 2024-135 :: East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust

Reference	FOI 2024-135
Description	Interpretation and Translation Services
Date Requested	23/05/24
Date Replied	31/05/24
Category	Procurement Interpretation contracts Contact details framework Spending spend Commercially Sensitive Exemption Applied Translation Services

Request

Under the Freedom of Information Act, I would like to request the following information:

Interpretation and Translation Services
Question	Notes	Response:
What was your overall 23/24 spend for interpretation and translation services?	Apr’23 – Mar’24 Spend to include all service formats across all contracts held
What was your overall 22/23 spend for interpretation and translation services?	Apr’22 – Mar’23 Spend to include all service formats across all contracts held
What was your overall 21/22 spend for interpretation and translation services?	Apr’21 – Mar’22 Spend to include all service formats across all contracts held
Please confirm the following details for your provider(s) of interpretation services for each year:		Response: Please add additional columns if required
		Provider 1	Provider 2	Provider 3	Provider 4
Provider name	e.g. inhouse / provider name)
Scope of contract and value of spend where in scope in Apr’23-Mar’24 year a) Pre-booked face-to-face b) Pre-booked video c) Pre-booked telephone d) On-demand video e) On-demand telephone f) British Sign Language g) Interpreters on wheels	a) Yes/No, If yes £x b) Yes/No, If yes £x c) Yes/No, If yes £x d) Yes/No, If yes £x e) Yes/No, If yes £x f) Yes/No, If yes £x g) Yes/No, If yes £x
Value of spend against each in-scope service Apr’22-Mar’23 year
Value of spend against each in-scope service Apr’21-Mar’22 year
Current contract start date	DD/MM/YYYY
Current contract end date	DD/MM/YYYY
Any extension options available under the existing contract	e.g. 2 x 12 months
How was this contract awarded?	e.g. Tender / direct award
Which procurement framework was used to award this contract?	e.g. NHS SBS / ESPO / No framework used
Have service credits been applied in the last 12 months? If yes, what performance failure was this linked to?	e.g. Yes - non-fulfilment of BSL
Is there is an exclusivity clause, which would prevent you from piloting additional or complementary interpreting services during the duration of your current contract?	Yes/No
From which budget within your organisation are interpreting services funded?	Budget/Department name
Which staff member/job role is responsible for signing off that budget?	e.g. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead
Which staff member/job role manages the interpretation services contract(s)?	e.g. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead

Response

Interpretation and Translation Services
Question	Notes	Response:
What was your overall 23/24 spend for interpretation and translation services?	Apr’23 – Mar’24 Spend to include all service formats across all contracts held	£592,103
What was your overall 22/23 spend for interpretation and translation services?	Apr’22 – Mar’23 Spend to include all service formats across all contracts held	£445,554
What was your overall 21/22 spend for interpretation and translation services?	Apr’21 – Mar’22 Spend to include all service formats across all contracts held	£442,068
Please confirm the following details for your provider(s) of interpretation services for each year:		Response: Please add additional columns if required
		Provider 1	Provider 2	Provider 3	Provider 4
Provider name	e.g. inhouse / provider name)	DA Languages	Co-Sign
Scope of contract and value of spend where in scope in Apr’23-Mar’24 year a) Pre-booked face-to-face b) Pre-booked video c) Pre-booked telephone d) On-demand video e) On-demand telephone f) British Sign Language g) Interpreters on wheels	a) Yes/No, If yes £x b) Yes/No, If yes £x c) Yes/No, If yes £x d) Yes/No, If yes £x e) Yes/No, If yes £x f) Yes/No, If yes £x g) Yes/No, If yes £x	The Trust is unable to provide the value of spend requested as this information is commercial in confidence. This information is exempt under section 43 (commercial interests) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as the information would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of those involved. Section 43 (2) is a qualified exemption which means the Trust must undertake a public interest test. The Trust has considered the public interest in disclosing this information and while it is in the public interest to disclose information that informs the public of how we spend our money, especially where this relates to the provision of public services, we have determined that the prejudice arising from disclosure outweighs the benefit to the public in this instance.
Value of spend against each in-scope service Apr’22-Mar’23 year		The Trust is unable to provide the information requested as this information is commercial in confidence. This information is exempt under section 43 (commercial interests) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as the information would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of those involved. Section 43 (2) is a qualified exemption which means the Trust must undertake a public interest test. The Trust has considered the public interest in disclosing this information and while it is in the public interest to disclose information that informs the public of how we spend our money, especially where this relates to the provision of public services, we have determined that the prejudice arising from disclosure outweighs the benefit to the public in this instance.
Value of spend against each in-scope service Apr’21-Mar’22 year		The Trust is unable to provide the information requested as this information is commercial in confidence. This information is exempt under section 43 (commercial interests) of the Freedom of Information Act (FOIA), as the information would be likely to prejudice the commercial interests of those involved. Section 43 (2) is a qualified exemption which means the Trust must undertake a public interest test. The Trust has considered the public interest in disclosing this information and while it is in the public interest to disclose information that informs the public of how we spend our money, especially where this relates to the provision of public services, we have determined that the prejudice arising from disclosure outweighs the benefit to the public in this instance.
Current contract start date	DD/MM/YYYY	2023	2023
Current contract end date	DD/MM/YYYY	2025	2025
Any extension options available under the existing contract	e.g. 2 x 12 months	2 x 12 months	N/A
How was this contract awarded?	e.g. Tender / direct award	Direct Award	Below WTO GPA Threshold
Which procurement framework was used to award this contract?	e.g. NHS SBS / ESPO / No framework used	Health Trust Europe	N/A
Have service credits been applied in the last 12 months? If yes, what performance failure was this linked to?	e.g. Yes - non-fulfilment of BSL	No	No
Is there is an exclusivity clause, which would prevent you from piloting additional or complementary interpreting services during the duration of your current contract?	Yes/No	No	No
From which budget within your organisation are interpreting services funded?	Budget/Department name	The Trust is unable to provide a response to this question as the budget is not held centrally.
Which staff member/job role is responsible for signing off that budget?	e.g. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead	The Trust is unable to provide a response to this question as the budget is not held centrally.
Which staff member/job role manages the interpretation services contract(s)?	e.g. Equality, Diversity & Inclusion Lead	Lancashire Procurement Cluster

The Trust does not supply details of members of staff unless they are already in the public domain. Contact details are also not provided unless these are public.

Structures for divisions are located on the Corporate Governance page of the Trust website

https://elht.nhs.uk/about-us/corporate-publications-annual-reports-and-accounts

Information relating to the board, including email address is on the Trust board page

https://elht.nhs.uk/about-us/trust-board

The Trust does not supply contact details of staff, such as names, email addresses and telephone numbers, unless these are routinely published on our website or already in the public domain. Such information is classed as personal identifiable information and, therefore, is considered exempt from disclosure under Section 40 of the Freedom of Information Act. Direct email addresses are not disclosed in line with Regulation 22 of the Privacy and Electronic Communications (EC Directive) Regulations 2003 which states that:

“A person shall neither transmit, nor instigate the transmission of, unsolicited communications for the purposes of direct marketing by means of electronic mail unless the recipient of the electronic mail has previously notified the sender that he consents for the time being to such communications being sent by, or at the instigation of, the sender.”

Should you wish to contact a member of staff, please contact the Trust switchboard on 01254 263555 and ask to be directed to them.

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Freedom of Information Requests
East Lancashire Hospitals NHS Trust
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Royal Blackburn Teaching Hospital
Haslingden Road
Blackburn
BB2 3HH

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FOI 2024-135

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