FOI 0794-2023/24- Translation and interpretation services
Request:
Q1. What is the size of the resident population that your organisation serves?
Q1.1. What percentage of the resident population in the area that your organisation serves are non-native English speakers?
Q1.2. Does your organisation predict that the number of non-native English speakers living in the area that you serve will increase, reduce or stay the same in the next 5 years?
Q2. Does your organisation hire any professional written translation or spoken interpreting services to aid communication with people who may have difficulties understanding English?
[Yes/No]
Q2.1. If your organisation hires professional translation or interpreting services, for what type of material do you use these services?
(E.g., do you hire professional translation services to translate website content, correspondence, legal documents? Do you hire interpreting services for meetings, interviews, anything else?)
Q2.2. If your organisation hires professional translation or interpreting services, can you please provide figures for how much was spent by your organisation on these services and what percentage of your total expenditure this amounted to for the last 4 financial years?
Financial year Translation & interpreting expenditure % of total expenditure
2018/19: £ %
2019/20: £ %
2020/21: £ %
2021/22: £ %
Q2.3. Does your organisation predict that the percentage of spending on translation and interpreting services will increase, reduce or stay the same in the next 5 years?
Q3. Is machine translation (e.g. a translation app such as Google Translate) used in any way in your organisation?
[Yes/No]
Q3.1. If machine translation is used in your organisation, under what circumstances is it used?
(Please specify by whom, in which context, using which tools, and the reason of use.)
Q4. Does your organisation follow a formal policy approving, prohibiting or regulating the use of machine translation tools in your organisation?
[Yes/No]
Q4.1. If your organisation follows a formal policy for the use of machine translation, can you attach a copy of such policy to your response and/or provide a link to where it can be accessed?
Q5. Has your organisation carried out a risk assessment of possible consequences, for your organisation and/or for the people the organisation serves, from the use of machine translation?
[Yes/No]
Q5.1. If your organisation has carried out a risk assessment of the use of machine translation, please can you specify the risks your organisation identified?
Q6. Do you have an established line of accountability in the event of negative outcomes that may arise from the use of machine translation?
(E.g., an incident caused by misinformation in an important document, or by miscommunication between staff and member of the public using a phone app.)
[Yes/No]
Q6.1. If you have an established line of accountability, can you explain how this guides response procedures to a possible negative outcome from the use of machine translation?
Q7. Is any training provided on the use of machine translation in your organisation?
[Yes/No]
Q7.1. If training is provided on the use of machine translation in your organisation, can you please provide an overview of the training offered?
Q8. Does your organisation have any other procedures in place to adjust your communication strategy for people who may have difficulties understanding English? If so, please explain.
Q9. If we would like to follow up with your organisation for the purpose of further research relating to translation and/or interpreting in your organisation, could you please provide the most suitable email address to contact?
Response:
Extent and Result of Searches to Locate Information
To locate the information relevant to your request searches were conducted within North Yorkshire Police. I can confirm that the information you have requested is held by North Yorkshire Police.
Decision
I have today decided to disclose the located information to you.
Q1. No information held
Q1.1. No information held
Q1.2. No information held
Q2. Yes
Q2.1. All translation requirements, telephone, in person and documents etc.
Q2.2. Please see the table below which details the amount spent by the force for translation services for the last four financial years.
|
Financial Year |
Amount Spent |
% of budget |
|
18-19 |
£95,180.00 |
0.06% |
|
19-20 |
£75,001.00 |
0.05% |
|
20-21 |
£62,276.00 |
0.04% |
|
21-22 |
£76,001.00 |
0.04% |
Q2.3. No information held
Q3. Yes
Q3.1. Google translate, on an add hoc basis for none legislative purposes, These are many and various but an example is asking detained persons in custody if they need food or drink etc
Q4. No
Q4.1. N/A
Q5. No
Q5.1. No
Q6. All important documents and important interactions with members of the public should go through DA Languages to translate.
Q6.1. N/A
Q7. No
Q7.1. N/A
Q8. No
Q9. I am exempting the specific email addresses of these individuals pursuant to Section 40(2) of the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (the Act). Please see exemption explanation below.
Any enquires to North Yorkshire Police, or staff, can be sent via the contact forms on the North Yorkshire Police website Contact us | North Yorkshire Police
Exemption Explanation
Section 40 – Personal Information
Where an individual can be identified by such data, releasing it would clearly breach the first data protection principle of being ‘fair’ to the data subject.
Section 17 of the Act requires North Yorkshire Police, when refusing to provide such information (because the information is exempt) to provide you the applicant with a notice which: (a) states that fact, (b) specifies the exemption in question and (c) states (if that would not otherwise be apparent) why the exemption applies.
Section 40(2) is an absolute class based exemption, which does not require a public interest test, but requires the balancing of the legitimate interests of the public against the interests of the individual under the first Data Protection Principle; in that processing of personal data must be lawful and fair (DPA 2018 35(1), EUGDPR Article 5(1)).
This exemption applies because the right given under the FOI Act to request official information held by public authorities does not apply to the personal data of third parties where disclosure of that information would not be fair to the individual, and where there is no legitimate public interest in disclosure.
In all the circumstances of the case it has been determined that the duty to the individual under the Data Protection Act 2018 & EU General Data Protection Regulations, and the public interest in maintaining the exemption from disclosure of personal information held by the force in such instances, outweighs the public interest in disclosure. In this instance, personal information can only be disclosed to the individual concerned.
Releasing personal details to a person other than the data subject would not only breach the data subject’s Data Protection rights it may also breach the obligations placed on an authority under the European Convention on Human Rights
Pursuant to Section 17(1) of the Act this letter acts as a refusal notice under the Freedom of Information Act 2000 in relation to your request.
Please note that systems used for recording information are not generic, nor are the procedures used locally in capturing the data. It should be noted therefore that this force’s response to your questions should not be used for comparison purposes with any other responses you may receive.