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Written question asked by Lord Harrison (Labour) on Tuesday, 22 March 2016, in the House of Lords. It was due for an answer on Thursday, 7 April 2016. It was answered by Earl Howe (Conservative) on Tuesday, 5 April 2016 on behalf of the Ministry of Defence.

Armed Forces: Interpreters

Question

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many staff in each of the armed services work at the level of interpreter in each language.

Answer

The Armed Services recognise 48 languages for which they declare a capability. The Joint Arms Control Implementation Group is the only unit which employs personnel in the direct role of interpreter. Across the Armed Services a total of 697 personnel are recorded as holding a level of language qualification and currency that is functional or above. These are broken down as follows:

Army

RAF

Royal Marines

Royal Navy

Total

Functional

160

56

17

31

264

Professional

191

52

17

41

301

Expert

85

27

5

15

132

Total

436

135

39

87

697

The number of languages that Ministry of Defence (MOD) employees could conceivably need to converse in is extremely broad. The MOD employs professional interpreters for more niche languages and has robust strategies in place to ensure the quality of contractors’ interpretation skills.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
HL7318
Session
2015-16
Subjects
Armed forces Interpreters
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.parliament.uk