Blowing in the Wind?

Blowing in the Wind? Is it futile to demand statutory recognition for professional public service interpreters? Will the answer to this call be forever you are ‘blowing in the wind’, caught between the currents of political and commercial interests?

 Naturally, when those who need spoken word language services interact with the public services, they trust that the spoken word interpreters they encounter are professionals who have been diligently trained, have been robustly examined, are qualified and experienced so they are fit-to-practice. They expect these public service interpreters to be prepared and be ready for the job in hand.

Independent, transparent and professional registration and regulation provides people with assurances that underpin that trust. It lets them know that the public service interpreter is governed by a specifically created code of professional conduct and that complaint and discipline procedures and protocols are transparent and totally independent: free from government, organisational, political, commercial or financial pressures; that there will not be a change in standards simply to address supply or cost issues.

 Since 1994, the not-for-profit National Register of Public Service Interpreters (NRPSI) has been the only independent regulatory body focused purely on professionalising spoken word public service interpreting to protect both the public services and public from poor interpreting practice. Notwithstanding efforts by certain public sector organisations to undermine NRPSI’s work in this area, particularly in giving a voice to the public’s interests, NRPSI has robustly advocated improvements in public service interpreting.

NRPSI ensures public service interpreting is recognised as a profession and protects the qualification requirements and experience levels needed to enter the profession. NRPSI continues to hold the line on public service interpreting standards at a time when many within the ecosystem are determined to dissolve them. NRPSI maintains and develops the standards required for professionals to practise safely and effectively as public service interpreters in complex public sector situations. These situations demand great skill, knowledge and competence. NRPSI is resolutely focused on holding government bodies, public sector organisations and private companies in the spoken language public service arena to account when standards slip, potentially putting the public at risk.

 In protecting the public, NRPSI stands against – and has challenged the use of – bilingual speakers without the appropriate qualifications, experience or adequate training in public service spoken word interpreting in evidential, life-threatening or critical situations. Why would you trust someone with no spoken word public service interpreting qualifications, even if they have a degree in philology where they have studied the history of languages, with interpreting on your behalf in a court setting? Why would you agree to engage with a bilingual speaker who has just enrolled on a GCSE pass level course when your freedom is at stake in a bail hearing?

If a public sector organisation calls someone a ‘Language Professional’ when they are patently untrained, under-qualified or inexperienced, why should we trust that particular public sector organisation? Why would you trust any commercial organisation accepting contractual requirements that drives them to recruit bilingual speakers for government engagements? Are they surrendering standards, ethics and public safety in pursuit of company profits, dividends for owners and shareholder value? Are they encouraging less than acceptable requests from questionably managed public sector organisations which put cost and supply before ensuring spoken word public sector interpreters are fit to act on behalf of someone who does not speak English?

 Sadly, such things are already happening.

Consequently, it is not pointless to pursue statutory recognition for professional public service interpreters; it is not ‘blowing in the wind’. Not when public trust lies in independent regulation, in the assurance that professionals are being regulated by the independent body, where there is no interest in maximising revenue from government contracts or reducing costs by paying interpreters lower engagement fees.

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Mike Orlov: 19th May 2021