The Wales Interpretation and Translation Service (WITS; Welsh: Gwasanaeth Cyfieithu a Dehongli Cymru; GCDC) is a not-for-profit[1] quango providing 24-hour linguistic services to public authorities in Wales, including councils, police forces, health and social services, but not courts.[2]

The services offered include interpreting, translation and transcription, and cover approximately 135 languages & dialects including British Sign Language.[3] The linguists are security vetted to national police employment standards and assessed and trained in professional interpreting.[4]

It had a place on the steering committee of Professional Interpreters for Justice (PI4J), an umbrella group formed in 2011 to campaign against the Ministry of Justice language services framework agreement.[5]

History

WITS was created in November 2009 by Chief Inspector Tony Wilcox[6] and formally established on 13 October 2010, with initial funding from the National Assembly for Wales, City of Cardiff Council and Gwent Police.[7] The aims were to help people experiencing communication difficulties to overcome language barriers when accessing public services, and thereby to encourage social inclusion and integration, and improve community cohesion.

In January 2017 it was agreed to transfer hosting responsibilities from Gwent Police to Cardiff Council.[8]

See also

References

  1. ↑ "2017.01.26 PI4J email to Warwickshire and West Mercia Police re outsourcing of Language Services". Society of Official Metropolitan Interpreters UK Ltd (SOMI). Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  2. ↑ "WITS Interpreters - look at the MoJ proposals". ProZ. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  3. ↑ "WITS - Wales' leading interpretation and translation service". WITS. Archived from the original on 11 October 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  4. ↑ "Wales Launches Interpreting and Translation Service". Translatum. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  5. ↑ Mirela Watson. "The changing landscape of Public Service Interpreting in the UK: A survey of the Profession". Academia.edu. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  6. ↑ "About WITS". WITS - Wales' leading interpretation and translation service. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  7. ↑ "Minister launches Wales Interpretation and Translation Service". WiredGov. Retrieved 19 June 2017.
  8. ↑ "WITS (Wales Interpretation and Translation Service): Transfer of hosting responsibilities from Gwent Police to City of Cardiff Council". cardiff.gov.uk. Retrieved 19 June 2017.

Further reading


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