Written question asked by Kevin McNamara (Labour) on Monday, 3 December 2001, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 12 December 2001. It was answered by Baroness Hughes of Stretford (Labour) on Wednesday, 12 December 2001 on behalf of the Home Office.

Home Office

Question: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, how many prison officers speak (a) Arabic, (b) Hindi, (c) Urdu, (d) Farsi or Dari and (e) Pashto as a first language; how many officers, and at what grades, are trained to speak each language; and how many translators are available for work in detention camps in each region of England and Wales. - Includes fact that information on the languages spoken by prison officers is not hold centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost.

Answer: Mr. McNamara: To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department how many prison officers speak (a) Arabic, (b) Hindi, (c) Urdu, (d) Farsi or Dari and (e) Pashto as a first language; how many officers, and at what grades, are trained to speak each language; and how many translators are available for work in detention camps in each region of England and Wales. [21308] Beverley Hughes: Information on the languages spoken by prison officers is not held centrally and could be collected only at disproportionate cost. Translation arrangements in Immigration Detention Centres are provided primarily by external translators and on occasion by Immigration Service staff.

Secondary information

Type: Written question
Reference: 21308; 376 c922W
Session: 2001-02
Subjects: Languages Prisons Staff Detention centres Translation services Interpreters
Contains statistics: Yes
Link: View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk