Tender for the Provision of: Interpretation, Translation and Transcription Services Reference Case:

Transcription

1 Tender for the Provision of: Interpretation, Translation and Transcription Services Reference Case: Global Language Services Ltd. Craig House 64 Darnley Street Glasgow G41 2SE

2 Restricted Contracts Reference: April 2009 CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PROVISION OF INTERPRETING, TRANSLATION AND TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES SCHEDULE 2 TENDERER S SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS REFERENCE CASE

3 Restricted Contracts Reference: April 2009 Schedule 2 TENDERER S SUBMISSION REQUIREMENTS The information requested from the Tenderer in this Schedule 2 will be used in conjunction with commercial and technical criteria during the Tender evaluation process. It is therefore essential that you supply all the information requested. The information requested will be evaluated in two stages, the questions below, at paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 Tenderer s Submission Requirements, make up the first stage of the evaluation. Failure to disclose information relevant to the questions in paragraph 1 may result in your exclusion from this and/or other competitions. Should the response be found to be erroneous or in any other way incorrect, any subsequent tender submission from the bidder will be deemed void. In the case where the error or misrepresentation is not discovered until after the contract is awarded, we reserve the right to terminate the contract and all costs incurred by us as a result of the termination shall be recoverable from the provider under the contract. The information requested in paragraph 2 onwards will be deemed as non compliant should the tenderer fail to answer all the questions at paragraph 1. The tenderers may also be sifted out if they answer Yes in respect of the information requested at paragraph 1.2 of this schedule 2. In this circumstance further investigation will be required by CGCoPE. In response to the following questions in paragraph 2 onwards, in Schedule 2 to this invitation to tender document, Tenderers must: Ensure all responses and evidence provided is relevant to the specific question. Not submit generic promotional literature. Where possible limit responses as outlined below All questions within this schedule must be answered and submitted in the order given 1. FINANCIAL INFORMATION AND BUSINESS PROBITY 1.1 The following information MUST also be included in the tender response, failure to provide all of this information will result in the tender being disqualified: a) Bank Details including name, address and the telephone number of the account manager Schedule 2-1

4 Restricted Contracts Reference: April 2009 b) One copy of your organisations audited accounts and the accounts of your group for the last 2 years in English and in UK Sterling together with the details of any significant changes since the last year end. Copies of the accounts should be signed and dated by directors and auditors (preferably scanned if being submitted electronically) The accounts for the last two years are enclosed as Annex A. 1.2 In addition tenderers must provide a yes or no answer to the following: a) Is the organisation bankrupt or being wound up, having its affairs administered by the court, or have you entered into an arrangement with creditors, suspended business activities or any analogous situation arising from similar proceedings under national laws or regulations? b) Is the organisation the subject of proceedings for a declaration of bankruptcy, for compulsory winding-up or administration by the court or for an arrangement with creditors or of any other similar proceedings under national laws or regulations? c) Has any employee whom you would propose to use to deliver this service been convicted of an offence concerning his professional conduct by a judgement which has the force of res judicata 1? d) Has any employee whom you would propose to use to deliver this service been guilty of misrepresentation in supplying or failing to supply the information that may be required in this Section? e) Has any employee whom you would propose to use to deliver this service been guilty of grave professional misconduct, proven by any means which the contracting authorities can justify? f) Has the organisation failed to fulfil obligations relating to the payment of social security contributions in accordance with the legal provisions of the United Kingdom or the country in which it is established? g) Has the organisation failed to fulfil obligations relating to the payment of taxes in accordance with the legal provisions of the United Kingdom or the country in which it is established? Schedule 2-2

5 Restricted Contracts Reference: April Tenderers should provide details of the numbers of staff they employ and their annual turnover. The company currently employs 16 administrative and management staff including the two directors. Three members of staff are presently employed on a part-time basis and one other on a temporary basis. At this time, there are three vacancies one for a part-time book-keeper, another for admin and Interpreter appointments. In the past year, ending April 2009, the company appointed 5 members of staff and one member of staff terminated her employment to work overseas. We currently have over linguists in our Scottish databases. Over in the Glasgow & West of Scotland database, over In the Highlands and Islands database, around in the Aberdeenshire database and over in the Lothian and Borders & Central Scotland database. Schedule 2-3

6 Restricted Contracts Reference: April PROPOSALS FOR SERVICE DELIVERY & IMPLEMENTATION 2.1 Tenderers must provide an overview of their organisation and identify where this contract will fit into the management structure and other contracts. Details of the proposed management structure for this contract should be provided including an organisation chart and management profile for the Account Management Team. (Management profiles should contain details of experience and qualifications pertinent to this contract and not exceed ½ page A4 per profile) Organisational Overview Global Language Services Ltd is a language service agency incorporated in Scotland in May We currently employ 16 administrative staff and over 2000 freelance language specialists, including interpreters, translators, transcribers, voice over artists and language tutors. The company has enjoyed regular growth since that time. While a contributory factor was the increasing demand for such services, generally it is considered that our fundamental company ethos of consumer orientation was a major factor in this company achieving a greater proportion of this market. Further, Global Language Services Ltd. considered that to meet or exceed customer expectations then appropriately qualified and trained interpreters, translators and transcribers were required. The company has given priority to the development of interpreter training and provides a series of training programmes from induction to professional qualifications. Recognition by the Chartered Institute of Linguists as a Centre contributes to the company s success in this field. The company operates a policy of providing a local supply where a local demand exists. In practical terms this results in the establishment of offices at centres other than the Head Office in Glasgow, and, at this time, offices operate in Edinburgh, Inverness and, most recently, in Aberdeen. It is considered that by making such a provision we optimise lead times and enhance economies and efficiency. Each of the Edinburgh and Inverness offices is staffed with a Business Development Manager and a further member of staff. The main task of these offices is to recruit and organise training for locally based interpreters, arrange appointments and market the services. Translation, transcription and tuition appointments also will be arranged in these local areas, but the conduct and management of such appointments will be organised by the specialist department at the Glasgow Head Office. Similarly, all financially related matters are arranged and managed at Head Office. The company and customers benefit from this economy of expertise. Presently Global Language Services Ltd has been awarded a number of public sector organisation contracts for the provision of interpreting and translation services these have been detailed elsewhere in this submission and include the COPFS framework, Strathclyde Police, Ministry of Justice, Highland Partnership (Highland Council and NHS), Scottish Legal Aid Board and, most recently, the Scottish Parliament. It follows that we have developed an organisation structure which encompasses the requirements of these contracts. Our present organisation structure recognises the influence of customer, geography and functional activities on the structure that we have developed. We consider that our structure has the capacity to meet the requirements of the Collaborative Contract with only minor amendments and, further, it has the capacity to absorb work additional to our present load which will be generated by this contract. The following chart outlines the current management and admin structure of our organisation Schedule 2-4

7 Restricted Contracts Organisation Chart: Current Reference: April 2009 Managing Director Director (Marketing/ Customer Relations / Quality Management) Northern Scotland Office Manager Day to day operation of Highland Partner Contract Admin of Northern Scotland Office Liaising with clients and suppliers Booking interpreters General queries Translation Manager Coordination of: Translations DTP / Typesetting Transcription Localisation Procurement Translation Assistant Finance Manager Management Accounts Budgeting Accounts Glasgow Office - Ms Shirley Queen Tribunals bookings Scottish Parliament - Ms Ieva Mikulenaite Sheriff Clerk s bookings - General bookings - Admin Appointment pending Book Keeper Edinburgh & Lothian & Borders Office Manager Admin of Edinburgh & Lothian and Borders office Liaising with clients and suppliers Booking interpreters General queries Admin / Management Information Organising courses & career development for interpreters Marketing Coordinating tuition Management reports General admin Administrator Translation Assistant - Data input Invoicing (appointment pending) Administrator Booking interpreters General queries General admin Schedule 2-1 Booking interpreters General queries General admin

8 Restricted Contracts Organisation Chart: Reference: Collaborative Partners April 2009 Diagram: How this contract fits with our management structure: Managing Director (Account Manager) Director (Marketing/ Customer Relations / Quality Management) Northern Scotland Office Manager Local recruitment & vetting Local bookings Translation Manager Coordination of: Translations DTP / Typesetting Transcription DPSI training Finance Manager Finance reports Invoicing Glasgow Office General bookings Sheriff Clerk s bookings Edinburgh & Lothian & Borders Office Manager Local recruitment & vetting Local bookings Admin / Management Information Training & workshops Management reports DPSI - Admin Appointment pending Administrator Booking interpreters General queries General admin Translation Assistant Translation Assistant - - Accounts Data input Invoicing General Queries Schedule 2-2 Book Keeper (appointment pending) Administrator Booking interpreters General queries General admin

9 Proposed Account Management Team The appointed contract manager will be the Managing Director, Mr. assisted by the following staff:, who would be Mrs. Quality Management Mr. Translation, Transcription and Training Ms. Management Information / Systems and Training The appointed contract manager already currently oversees several other similar contracts, such as our exclusive contracts with Strathclyde Police, Scottish Parliament, Tribunal Service from the Ministry of Justice, Highland Partnership contract and Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. The managing structure employed for successfully maintaining these contracts is the same as proposed in this submission. This means the contract could be incorporated with minimum disruption to us and the client. Account Management Profiles

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11 2.2 The proposed principal point of contact should be named and a one page (A4) CV provided to include a complete working history, and relevant professional skills / qualifications including length of service in your organisation. Details of all other contracts they are responsible for must be provided. If the tenderer is shortlisted, the Authority will require meeting the nominated Account Management Team, prior to the contract being awarded. The principal point of contact will be Mr follows: Managing Director, whose CV is as EMPLOYMENT HISTORY

12 2.3 a.) Tenderers must provide an executive summary of their proposal. It must include (as a minimum) an overview of your understanding of the Specification and your organisation s proposed approach and plans for satisfying and supporting the requirements and pricing arrangements. This summary should be for each of the 3 services described. (max 2 page A4) Our general understanding of this Specification is that the following are the fundamental requirements: Scottish Ministers require to establish a framework contract for the provision of Interpreting, Translation and Transcription services on behalf of the Collaborative Partners for delivery throughout Scotland. The Authority requires Contractors to provide comprehensive spoken language interpreting services, document translation and transcription and translation from word documentation or electronic media into word documents. In the provision of the required services the emphasis will be on quality as well as price. The thrust of Global Language Services Ltd proposal is that it can meet and/or exceed the expectations of the Collaborative Partners as a result of the following: Significant and relevant experience of providing the required services both on an ad-hoc basis and to exclusive contracts to customers who are or who are similar to Collaborative Partners. Soundly based and soundly managed company and largely through its commitment to customerfocused policy has enjoyed continuing growth in turnover generally year on year. Local demand and local supply policy with area offices operational in Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen, further offices in Perth/Dundee and Forth Valley/Fife under consideration and other Associates in other localities to provide extensive geographical cover A careful recruitment policy and practices and commitment to training at all levels from induction to the development of a Distance Learning DPSI complemented with ongoing training developments and recognised by Investors in People. Practical commitment to the achievement of the required quality standards. Interpreting The company has a portfolio of interpreters at each of its main locations and these represent the languages most commonly requested as well as other languages available throughout the company. New language pairs are regularly added to our lists and at this time we calculate that we can provide the vast majority of Annex 1 languages. The company presently provides a 24 hour 7 days a week appointments service. The company is experienced in accepting short notice appointments and in completing the arrangements for such appointments. The company operates a recruitment and selection procedure which is fair and yet rigorous so that only interpreters with appropriate experience or with relevant potential are recruited. The company completes a registration process for each interpreter which more than satisfies the requirements of Section 3.3. of the Specification and all applicants complete Codes of Practice and Ethics, Confidentiality agreements and application for Enhanced Disclosure Scotland. The company provides induction programmes for all interpreters as well as specialist training programmes for Police Interpreting, Court Interpreting and Interpreting for the Health Services. These are supplemented by online Language Forums and will be enhanced by the CPD programme under development. The company gives emphasis to the DPSI by providing evening, weekend and distance learning subsidised programmes for this award. Interpreters are offered financial incentives on successful completion. The company is discussing and/or developing its training provision by Introductory Interpreting Distance Learning programmes, Conference Interpreting training, Video Conferencing and, in discussions with CILT (National Centre for Languages), a certificated award at a pre DPSI level. The company proposes the scale of fees outlined in the pricing schedule (Schedule C)

13 Translation The company provides at present a comprehensive translation service from English into most languages and from those languages into English or other languages. The company has a commitment to sourcing qualified translators and to the extension of its language-pair portfolio. The company accepts translation requests at any of its offices but all remaining aspects of the management of that translation are undertaken at the specialist Translation Department located in the Glasgow Head Office. The company s Translation Department operates between the specified core hours and can extend these hours where necessary. The company has experience of meeting the requirements for turnaround times, range of documents and types of services identified in Section 3.6 of the Specification and it will be standard practice to continue and/or discuss these with any Contracting Partner prior to commencement. Translators selected and appointed on the basis of their qualifications and experience will complete the appropriate Code of Conduct, incorporating a Confidentiality statement Following discussions with COPFS the company indicated its intentions to develop translation templates and practices and will develop this practice to satisfy the requirements of Section of the Specification. The company recognises the need for discussion and agreement with a Collaborative Partner and each of the critical stages of the translation process and will operate such a practice. The company operates efficient and economic processes for the transmission of materials, using a variety of technologies and determined by, inter alia, the Contracting Partner requirements. The Ancillary services identified in Section of the Specification are part of the company s normal provision. The company proposes the scale of fees outlined in the pricing schedule (Schedule C) Transcription The company will sub-contract transcription of English to English and Braille documents to The Royal National Institute of Blind (RNIB), Glasgow. The company will appoint transcribers for transcription of all other language pairs and such appointments will follow the guidelines outlined above for translators. The operation of the transcription service will be governed by the methods established for the translation service The company proposes the scale of fees outlined in the pricing schedule (Schedule C)

14 b.) Tenderers must provide a statement of how they will meet the requirements, from the outset of the contract award. This statement should be for each of the 3 services described. (Max 2 page A4) We believe we could offer these services from the outset of the contract as we already: a) have the systems in place including adequate vetting, recruitment and monitoring policies. b) have the administrative structure in place network of 4 regional offices in Scotland c) have the workforce in place network of over 2,000 linguists d) have experience providing these services (Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, Scottish Legal Aid Board, Scottish Courts Service and Scottish Children s Reporter Administration) Interpreting: We already have 4 regional offices in Scotland, each with a database of local interpreters. Many of these associates have been undertaking work for some of the Collaborative Partners and other organisations. Many of them have also taken part in our training programmes, including the DPSI. The tender specification places great emphasis on the level of quality of interpretes who are to work in the contract. We believe that not only do we have the largest network of offices and interpreters in Scotland, we also have a unique training and professional development plan for those interpreters. Whilst we believe we would have the resources to fulfil the requirements from the outset, we also plan to further widen and improve our comprehensive training programme. This should result in a continuously increasing number of qualified linguists during the lifetime of the contract. Recruitment for the DPSI programme has already started and we would allocate further resources at the outset of the contract, in order to ensure we would achieve a record numbers of enrolled DPSI students as has happened over the last few years. Translation: There would be no major changes in our translation department after the award of the contract. We already have internal historical data highlighting the most requested languages for the major Collaborative Partners and have recruited translators for those languages. These are all based in the UK and we do not have to outsource translation assignments to linguists outwith the UK. We have a recruitment policy which already meets the requirements of this contract and which vets translation applicants in order to ensure they are qualified and experienced to an acceptable level. We have a translation department which we feel is adequately staffed with admin resources for the volume of work represented in the historical information provided. Our experience in working with several of the Collaborative Partners has allowed us to become aware of their particular requirements. It is expected that the Contract Manager would liaise with Collaborative Partnerts for whom we have not undertaken translation work, in order to determine their particular requirements from the outset. Transcription: As with the two services above, we have already been providing multilingual transcription services to some of the Collaborative Partners, which means we are aware of their

15 requirements. In addition, the subcontractor we proposed for provision of English to English and English to Braille transcription services (The Royal National Institute for the Blind RNIB) also has experience providing services in those areas for the same partners. The RNIB already has transcribers and Braillists appointed at their Glasgow office and, given the historical data provided in the specification, it is not anticipated that there should be volume of work which would involve sourcing additional staff and resources to meet its requirements. RNIB transcribers are qualified to professional standards and they have a Quality plan which ensures they remain abreast of the most recent standards and developments in that specialised market. Global Language Services Ltd multilingual transcribers are professional linguists, who are recruited following the same strict criteria for translators. Global Language Services Ltd has a professional development plan for translators which also includes multilingual transcribers.

16 2.4 Tenderers must confirm compliance with all areas of the Specification by completing the Compliance Schedule at the end of Schedule 2. Any areas that cannot be met must be identified within the Compliance Schedule and an assessment of their impact on the service provision given. Enclosed as Annex M. Global Language Services Ltd confirms compliance with all areas of the Specification and has completed the Compliance Schedule at the end of Schedule 2.

17 2.5 Tenderers must state any assumptions made in putting together their proposal. (max ½ page A4) In the production of this tender the following assumptions were recognised and considered While the extrapolations in Annex B to Schedule 2 were not guaranteed as to accuracy or by volume of usage, these approximations were factors taken into consideration. The company has assumed that it will be the sole and single Contractor for this tender. The company has assumed that there will be minimal, if any, use of the Non Exclusivity clause in 42.1 and that normally all Collaborative Partners will place orders with this company as the successful Contractor. The company assumes that the 70 miles/90 minute rule will be applied rigorously. The company assumes that the minimum charge time will be two hours per appointment. The company assumes and anticipates that ongoing discussions regarding training developments will move to the required successful conclusion. The company assumes that the Scottish Court Service and COPFS will develop a two tier requirement for interpreters and accordingly require specialist conference/simultaneous interpreters for whom extraordinary fees may be required.

18 2.6 Tenderers must outline any perceived risks in meeting any area of the Specification. Risks should be assessed in terms of impact and likelihood. Mitigating actions must be identified. (Max 1 page A4) When covering such a geographical area, the most likely risks will be: 1. An interpreter for a particular language is requested in a specific region where no such specialist language is available Mitigating Action: Global Language Services has four local offices located throughout Scotland. As such, we have the widest regional coverage of languages in Scotland and are constantly recruiting new linguists. This also allows us to complement our provision of linguists for a particular area with linguists from our different regional databases. We will continue to recruit new linguists in order to ensure an increasingly wider coverage. Low impact Some likelihood 2. A qualified interpreter is requested in a region where no qualified interpreters are available for that language. Mitigating Action: As before, in the short term this can be complemented by our other regional databases. We do, nevertheless, recognise that there is a great need to recruit and train more qualified interpreters, particularly in regions where there are traditionally very few qualified linguists (such as in the Highlands and Islands and Aberdeenshire). We are aware that this is a mid to long term commitment, which we have already started to address with the provision of our Distance Learning DPSI course and weekend DPSI course in Edinburgh and Inverness, in addition to other specialised workshops. Low impact High likelihood 3. DPSI not available in all languages The DPSI is not currently offered by the Chartered Intitute of Linguists (IOL). New languages are added by the IOL on an annual basis but only in a very limited fashion.there may be little opportunity for relevant undergraduate/post graduate awards in these languages. Frequently there is little demand for this or similar languages. Mitigating Action: The company will provide in the time available relevant training on a oneto-one basis in an attempt to meet fundamental requirements. High impact High likelihood 4. Interpreters in particular languages may not be available for a trial because previous commitment/involvement at earlier stages and there exists a need beyond our control to recruit interpreters from elsewhere in UK, e.g. HMA v Marek Harcar Mitigating Action: Exemption policies and practices require to be considered by Collaborative Partners. High Impact- Medium/High likelihood

19 2.7 Tenderers must provide an implementation plan, with activities and minimum required timescales for completion following contract award including transitional arrangements. Global Language Services Ltd is already the holder of the contract for some of the Collaborative Organisations, namely the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service and the Scottish Legal Aid Board. In addition to that, we are regular suppliers to other Collaborative Partners, who have not issued formal contracts for provision of language services: The Scottish Courts Service and the Scottish Children Reporter s Administration. As such, we believe that the transitional impact would to a great extent be minimised, as we already have the systems in place to supply to these organisations and already have a workforce of suitable interpreters, translators and transcribers to deliver the contract. Nevertheless, we do recognise that this framework agreement incorporates a number of new elements and requirements, in addition to additional customers, whose particular requirements should be considered so that we can provide them with the same level of service. As such, we anticipate the following activities would have to be undertaken: Account Manager to meet CGCoPE s Strategic Contract Manager timescale to be agreed. Contact representatives from all Collaborative Partners in order to discuss practical strategic requirements in terms of training, invoicing, format of bookings and other relevant issues. Within 2-3 weeks. Account Manager to meet internal managers, admin staff and RNIB to discuss nature of new contract and practical admin implications within one week Account Manager to contact interpreters, interpreters and transcribers to discuss nature of new contract and practical implications and change in fee payment scale. within 2 weeks Follow-up Meeting with Account Managers and internal staff. Plan Induction propgrammes. Notification to be sent out to all the organisations listed in Annexes 2 and 3 to Schedule B, with details on how to access services and informing of contract manager s contact details for any queries Within 1 week. Continue Training Programmes o Glasgow, Inverness and Edinburgh courses starting in October (possibly Aberdeen pending demand). o Continuation of Distance Learning DPSI course this is on a flexible entry scheme. o Continuation of Police training and Court training workshops and holding such programmes in other more remote locations within 3 months Diploma in Translation launching the Distance Learning Programme for the Diploma in Translation before the end of the year Evaluate feasibility of opening new Offices in Perth/Dundee and Forth Valley/Fife. Decision to be taken after evaluating usage reports for the first quarter of the contract. Finalise Software booking system and establish talks to incorporate e-procurement into the system where practical 3 to 6 months Disclosure the framework agreement currently in place with COPFS requires that linguists renew Disclosure certificates every 3 years. As the new contract stipulates that all personnel must have a Disclosure certificate that is no more than 12 months old, we would immediately require our associates in those circumstances to renew their certificates. New certificates can take between 2 to 8 weeks to arrive.

20 2.8 Tenderers must describe how the account manager (referred to in Section 11.1 of Schedule B) will meet the requirements of the specification. The Account Manager designated by Global Language Services Ltd. is the present Managing Director of the company. It is envisaged that he will have a dual role in this appointment (1) Liaison Manager (2) Communication Manager He will be the initial point of contact for CGCoPE s Strategic Manager and the nominated representative of each identified Collaborative Partner. He will liaise with the CGCoPE s Strategic Manager regarding any/all potential and proposed changes to the terms and conditions of the Contract. He will ensure that the company meets all of its contractual obligations. He will ensure that the company maintains full and accurate records of the contract He will ensure that the company operates an appropriate quality management system He will propose innovative practices, including e-commerce solutions, to the Strategic Manager. He will establish contacts with each Collaborative Manager and in while so doing agree format, style and time of the required monthly reports. He will be the first point of contact for complaints regarding service delivery and will manage the response and recording of such complaints, He will ensure that the relevant information required for approved purposes by Collaborative Partners is available in a timeous and appropriate manner. He will ensure that appropriate Management Information Systems are applied so that 1. the company monitors its performance against agreed service levels 2. bi-annual Service Quality Survey of levels of satisfaction are undertaken 3. that monthly and quarterly reports are available in the agreed format and time as identified in paras and 9.1

21 2.9 The Contract will be let as a framework arrangement(s) with the successful Contractor(s) able to deliver Interpreting, Translation and Translation services. The specialist areas are noted below: Interpreting (face to face) Translation and Transcription Tenderers are invited to submit a response for all of the specialism s listed above by completing the appropriate section to section Interpreting Services a. Tenderers should provide evidence of their organisations practical experience in providing Interpreting Services. Global Language Services Ltd is a leading interpreting and translation agency based in Scotland founded and incorporated in May The main focus of the company is to provide a customer oriented service which places great emphasis on quality and, as a result of this approach we have been awarded a number of contracts in the public sector. Below are details of some of our experience in the provision of interpreting services. These are but a sample of our current clients and includes mainly examples of public sector clients for whom we have provided services comparable to those detailed in the contract specification. It is also worth mentioning that we currently supply interpreting services for many of the organisations listed on the specification. Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service 2006 onwards Placed first amongst the four service providers included in the framework agreement for the provision of interpreting services for all the Procurator Fiscal Offices in Scotland. Received the highest score for technical capacity during the evaluation process. Scottish Parliament (2009 onwards) Provision of conference and consecutive interpreting services, translation and transcription. Scottish Courts Service 2001 onwards Provision of interpreters for Courts all over Scotland.

22 Scottish Prison Service 2005 onwards Interpreting / translation services.

23 b. Tenderers should detail how they will remain flexible to the needs of individual Collaborative Partners whilst maintaining a consistency in levels of service. 24/7 provision Flexibility remains one of the key aspects of our service provision. As mentioned before, we have an out-of-hours stand-by service, which ensures clients can reach us at any time of the day or night to request an interpreter. This flexibility is recognised by a number of organisations for whom we provide interpreting services at short notice, such as various locations. Large network of linguists Furthermore, we have a wide database of linguists which is of paramount importance in ensuring we can deliver this level of flexibility in our service provision. We have been requested to provide specialist services on a number of occasions where no other organisations were able to meet such demand. We are, for example, the only language service agency in Scotland with a registered Tongan interpreter. We were the only agency able to provide Finnish interpreters for the Courts Service during the G8 summit in Gleneagles. We were the only agency able to provide a suitable Arabic interpreter for the Al-Megrahi retrial and Albanian conference interpreters for the Amir Dardha case. We were also able to locate and recruit the most experienced Slovak conference interpreters in the UK for the recent In addition to this, we also have the largest database of DPSI qualified linguists in Scotland. We have, for example, the only Amharic DPSI holder in Scotland, the only Somali DPSI holder in Scotland, the only Kurdish Sorani DPSI holder in Scotland, the only Latvian DPSI holder in Scotland. Administrative flexibility In addition, we try to be sensitive to our clients requirements and always endeavour to meet any reasonable requests. We recognise that different clients have different requirements in terms of booking and invoicing procedures, recording information and need for management reports. We accept these and have procedures in place to ensure each client received the service requested to their satisfaction. Monitoring Global Language Services Ltd. undertakes a number of activities to ensure its service provision is always to the highest standard, irrespective of whether such provision relates to an appointment booked in advance or at short notice and irrespective of the geographic location of such appointment. These monitoring activities are outlined in Section Vetting & Training Global Language Services Ltd has recruitment and training programmes that identify linguists suitable for certain levels of work. These are indentified in advance and entered into our database, so as to ensure they are vetted should their services be required. We have a vast number of linguists for rare languages who have been through the registration, vetting and training processes should their specialist language skills be required at some point in the future. All our linguists have to undergo a registration process, before undertaking an assignment. As part of that registration process, they are required to attend an induction programme which covers such issues as Confidentiality and Professional Conduct and also basic Interpreting techniques and Company Policies.

24 c. Tenderers should provide details of the Scottish based interpreters on the databases and their locations e.g. 4 x Inverness, 3 x Glasgow etc. Global Language Services Ltd. currently has four regional offices based in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen and also a number of Associates located outwith these particular areas.. We believe that no other company has such a wide network. This has allowed us to compile local databases, whilst maintaining the same standards of recruitment, vetting and training, whilst passing cost economies to our clients Each of these offices holds a database of local interpreters which is constantly updated. The total current number of registered linguists is as follows: Greater Glasgow & West of Scotland database over 1,500 Lothian and Borders & Central Scotland database over 350 Highland and Islands database over 250 Aberdeenshire database over 100 The regional breakdown as requested in section of the Specification has been enclosed as Annex K Greater Glasgow & West of Scotland LANGUAGES COVERED BY YOUR OFFER (Please tick) NUMBERS OF INTERPRETERS/ TRANSLATORS/ TRANSCRIBER AVAILABLE LANGUAGE Afrikaans 2 Akan 3 Albanian 21 Alcholi 2 Amharic 23 Arabic 66 Armenian 3 Azerbaijani 3 Bahdini 6 Balochi 1 Bantu 1 Basque 1 Belarusian 2 Bengali 11 Bete Bosnian 1 Bulgarian 8 Burmese 3 Cantonese 37 Chinese 2 Creole 2 Croatian 8

25 Czech 48 Danish 9 Dari 18 Dinka 2 Dutch 12 Egyptian 1 Estonian 7 Farsi (Afghan) 18 Farsi (Persian) 49 Finnish 8 Flemish 0 French 107 Gan 1 N.B. Official language of Ghana is English and there are 9 other Ghanaian regional languages Georgian 8 German 37 Greek 22 Gujarati 7 Gurmukhi 63 Hakka 6 Hausa 1 Hebrew 6 Hindi 31 Hungarian 14 Icelandic 2 Igbo 4 Indonesian 1 Italian 26 Irish Gaelic 1 Japanese 9 Kannada 1 Kazakh Kikongo 2 Kikuyu 4 Kinyarwanda 7 Kisii 1 Kongo 1 Korean 14 Krio 1 Kurdish(Sorani) 29 Kurdish (Kurmanji) 5 Kyrgyz 2 Laotian 1 Latvian 14 Laur Language not known Lingala 28 Lithuanian 13

26 Luganda 15 Luo 1 Lutora Macedonian 4 Malay 3 Malayalam 5 Maltese 1 Mandarin 73 Mandinka 2 Marathi 2 Mauritian-creole 1 Min 1 Mirpuri 7 Mongolian Nepali 4 Norwegian 15 Papiamento Pashto 22 Polish 127 Portuguese 24 Punjabi 63 Romany 6 Romanian 20 Russian 72 Scottish Gaelic 6 Serb-Croat 14 Seychelles-Creole Shona 14 Sinhalese 15 Slovak 39 Slovenian 3 Somali 45 Spanish 51 Swahili 49 Swedish 15 Sylheti(Bengali) 8 Tagalog 3 Tajik Tamil 23 Telugu 7 Thai 12 Tibetan Tigrinya 18 Twi 1 Turkish 30 Turkmen 1 Ukrainian 8 Urdu 68

27 Uzbek Vietnamese 14 Welsh 2 Wolof 3 Wu 2 Xiang 2 Yoruba 6 Yiddish 6 Zulu 4 Lothian and Borders & Central Scotland LANGUAGES COVERED BY YOUR OFFER (Please tick) NUMBERS OF INTERPRETERS/ TRANSLATORS/ TRANSCRIBER AVAILABLE LANGUAGE Afrikaans 1 Akan 2 Albanian 3 Alcholi Amharic 2 Arabic 14 Armenian Azerbaijani Bahdini 1 Balochi Bantu Basque Belarusian Bengali 5 Bete Bosnian 2 Bulgarian 2 Burmese 2 Cantonese 9 Chinese 28 Creole Croatian Czech 7 Danish 1 Dari 1 Dinka 2 Dutch 1 Egyptian 14 Estonian 1 Farsi (Afghan) Farsi (Persian) 1

28 Finnish 1 Flemish 1 French 23 Gan N.B. Official language of Ghana is English and there are 9 other Ghanaian regional languages Georgian German 4 Greek 2 Gujarati 1 Gurmukhi 11 Hakka 1 Hausa 2 Hebrew Hindi 2 Hungarian 2 Icelandic Igbo 2 Indonesian 1 Italian 8 Irish Gaelic Japanese 3 Kannada Kazakh 1 Kikongo Kikuyu Kinyarwanda Kisii Kongo Korean 4 Krio Kurdish(Sorani) 2 Kurdish (Kurmanji) 1 Kyrgyz Laotian Latvian 5 Laur Language not known Lingala Lithuanian 6 Luganda Luo Lutora Macedonian Malay 2 Malayalam 1 Maltese Mandarin 19 Mandinka 2

29 Marathi Mauritian-creole 1 Min Mirpuri 2 Mongolian Nepali 2 Norwegian 2 Papiamento 1 Pashto 1 Polish 15 Portuguese 5 Punjabi 21 Romany Romanian 5 Russian 8 Scottish Gaelic Serb-Croat 2 Seychelles-Creole 1 Shona 2 Sinhalese 2 Slovak 4 Slovenian Somali 2 Spanish 27 Swahili 2 Swedish 4 Sylheti(Bengali) 4 Tagalog 4 Tajik 1 Tamil 2 Telugu 1 Thai 3 Tibetan 1 Tigrinya 2 Twi 4 Turkish 6 Turkmen Ukrainian 11 Urdu 21 Uzbek Vietnamese 5 Welsh 1 Wolof 4 Wu Xiang Yoruba 2 Yiddish Zulu

30 Highland and Islands LANGUAGES COVERED BY YOUR OFFER (Please tick) NUMBERS OF INTERPRETERS/ TRANSLATORS/ TRANSCRIBER AVAILABLE LANGUAGE Afrikaans 1 Akan Albanian Alcholi Amharic Arabic 5 Armenian Azerbaijani Bahdini Balochi Bantu Basque Belarusian 1 Bengali 8 Bete Bosnian Bulgarian 1 Burmese Cantonese 5 Chinese 11 Creole Croatian Czech 11 Danish 1 Dari Dinka Dutch 4 Egyptian 3 Estonian Farsi (Afghan) Farsi (Persian) 3 Finnish Flemish 4 French 22 Gan N.B. Official language of Ghana is English and there are 9 other Ghanaian regional languages Georgian

31 German 10 Greek 1 Gujarati Gurmukhi 8 Hakka 2 Hausa Hebrew 1 Hindi 10 Hungarian 2 Icelandic Igbo Indonesian 1 Italian 6 Irish Gaelic Japanese 3 Kannada Kazakh 1 Kikongo Kikuyu Kinyarwanda Kisii Kongo Korean Krio Kurdish(Sorani) Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kyrgyz Laotian Latvian 9 Laur Language not known Lingala Lithuanian 6 Luganda Luo Lutora Macedonian Malay 1 Malayalam 1 Maltese 1 Mandarin 8 Mandinka Marathi 1 Mauritian-creole Min Mirpuri Mongolian Nepali Norwegian 1

32 Papiamento Pashto Polish 40 Portuguese 8 Punjabi 6 Romany Romanian 7 Russian 15 Scottish Gaelic 5 Serb-Croat Seychelles-Creole Shona Sinhalese Slovak 2 Slovenian Somali Spanish 12 Swahili Swedish 1 Sylheti(Bengali) Tagalog 3 Tajik Tamil 2 Telugu 1 Thai 2 Tibetan Tigrinya Twi Turkish 1 Turkmen Ukrainian 2 Urdu 8 Uzbek 1 Vietnamese 1 Welsh Wolof Wu Xiang Yoruba Yiddish 1 Zulu

33 Aberdeenshire We have only recently opened our office in Aberdeenshire, so recruitment is still ongoing. LANGUAGES COVERED BY YOUR OFFER (Please tick) NUMBERS OF INTERPRETERS/ TRANSLATORS/ TRANSCRIBER AVAILABLE LANGUAGE Afrikaans 1 Akan Albanian Alcholi Amharic Arabic 7 Armenian Azerbaijani 2 Bahdini Balochi Bantu Basque Belarusian Bengali 2 Bete Bosnian Bulgarian Burmese Cantonese 5 Chinese 7 Creole Croatian Czech 8 Danish Dari Dinka Dutch 1 Egyptian 7 Estonian Farsi (Afghan) Farsi (Persian) Finnish Flemish 1 French 11 Gan Ghanaian N.B. Official language of Ghana is English and there are 9 other regional languages Georgian German 9

34 Greek Gujarati Gurmukhi 2 Hakka Hausa Hebrew Hindi Hungarian 2 Icelandic Igbo Indonesian 1 Italian 2 Irish Gaelic Japanese 1 Kannada Kazakh Kikongo Kikuyu Kinyarwanda Kisii Kongo Korean 1 Krio Kurdish(Sorani) Kurdish (Kurmanji) Kyrgyz Laotian Latvian 3 Laur Language not known Lingala Lithuanian 2 Luganda Luo Lutora Macedonian Malay Malayalam Maltese Mandarin 7 Mandinka Marathi Mauritian-creole Min Mirpuri Mongolian Nepali Norwegian Papiamento

35 Pashto Polish 14 Portuguese 5 Punjabi 11 Romany Romanian 1 Russian 11 Scottish Gaelic Serb-Croat Seychelles-Creole Shona Sinhalese Slovak 1 Slovenian Somali Spanish 5 Swahili Swedish Sylheti(Bengali) 2 Tagalog Tajik Tamil Telugu Thai Tibetan Tigrinya Twi Turkish 2 Turkmen Ukrainian Urdu 11 Uzbek Vietnamese 1 Welsh Wolof Wu Xiang Yoruba Yiddish Zulu

36 d. Tenderers should state what arrangements they intend to put in place to provide the interpreting service should local provision not be available. Global Language Services Ltd. has a network of 4 different local databases supplemented by Associates located in other areas to cover the whole of Scotland. This allows us to complement our service provision in any region where a particular language or specialism is not available with the databases from our other regions, and in particular with the Glasgow database, where we have over 1,500 registered interpreters. We will always consider the best interests of the partner when supplying an interpreter who is not located within the 70mile/90 minutes radius. We will always do our best to supply the best interpreter in the most cost efficient manner for the partner. This would mean, for example, that if an interpreter were required in Aberdeenshire and no suitable local interpreter were to be available, appropriate interpreters in the Highland and Islands database would be considered first, and only then interpreters based in Glasgow or Edinburgh. Due to our large coverage, however, we expect that such instances would be the exception, rather than the rule, and would mostly happen in the case of rare languages.

37 e. Tenderers should confirm they can provide national (Scotland) coverage (including the Highland and Islands). We can confirm that we can provide national coverage, including the Highlands and Islands. As mentioned before, we have 4 regional offices based in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen as well as other Associates located outwith these mainly urban areas. This unique geographic coverage was recently recognised in March 2009 by the Highland Partnership. Our contract for provision of interpreting services for the Highland and Islands area was renewed after a tendering process, after clearly demonstrating we have undoubtedly the widest database of properly vetted, registered, inducted and trained linguists in this area. This contract was also expanded to include the and the Scottish Prison Service (Inverness). Global Language Services Ltd. investment in these offices and in recruiting suitable staff to enhance our provision is something of which we are proud and aim to continue.

38 f. Tenderers should provide details of the level of qualification and experience of the interpreters on your databases, for example, the total number of interpreters and the number of interpreters who are qualified with the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (DPSI) and the particular option of the qualification they hold (Note: the largest area of demand for this service provision will be within the Scottish Legal Sector), the number of interpreters who have experience in court work and languages spoken. Global Language Services Ltd currenly has over 2,000 registred interpreters in Scotland: over 1,500 in the Glasgow & West of Scotland database, over 250 In the Highlands and Islands database, around 100 in the Aberdeenshire database and over 350 in the Lothian and Borders & Central Scotland database. DPSI The number of interpreters changes regularly and professionals move in and out of the area and/or in and out of the profession. For this reason, the Chartered Institute of Linguists are also reluctant to publish similar figures. However, we currently have around 121 DPSI qualified linguists in Scotland (around 85% of these have the Scottish Legal Option). We believe this figure should amount to at least 80% of the total number of DPSI qualified linguists in Scotland. All these interpreters have some level of Court experience and cover the principal languages outlined in the Specification. We currently have DPSI (Scottish Law) qualified interpreters for Amharic, Arabic, Armenian, Bengali, Cantonese, Croatian, Czech, Dutch, Farsi, French, German, Gujarati, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Kurdish, Latvian, Lithuanian, Mandarin, Pashto, Polish, Portuguese (Brazilian), Portuguese (European), Punjabi, Romanian, Russian, Serbo-Croat, Slovak, Somali, Spanish, Tamil, Turkish, Urdu. We also currently have 127 students enrolled in our various DPSI courses. 53 of these candidates in 20 different languages will be sitting the DPSI at our centre in Glasgow in June Many of the remaining candidates are aiming to sit the exam in June 2010 (the exam only takes place once per year in June). Relevant qualification / experience On the basis of our assessment of equivalence, it is estimated that around 80% of our registered interpreters have relevant degrees and/or experience. Candidates are vetted upon registration which means we turn down many applicants whose addition to our database we feel would not enhance our service provision We have court experienced interpreters for the majority of the languages provided in Schedule B, Annex 1.

39 g. With reference to the quality aspect of the provision of this service, it is important that Tenderers describe how your organisation will raise the level of the numbers of DPSI qualified and court experienced interpreters, over the period of any resultant contract. This response may include proposed value-added deliverables and services not already specified in the Specification. Global Language Services Ltd is the only Language Service Agency in Scotland registered as a centre for the DPSI and offers such training. This is a service we have been offering since We are currently the only DipTrans examination centre in Scotland The main difficulty in recruiting students for the DPSI qualification is related to the level of demand for certain languages and the associated financial cost and time involvement in preparing for the DPSI exam. Historical data shows that there is little demand for certain languages in specific areas such as the Highlands and Islands area. Interpreters in the North of Scotland and in certain languages in other areas are often used on an intermittent and irregular basis and the career prospects for most as professional interpreters are realistically quite restricted. Global Language Services Ltd is aware of all these conditioning factors and we have invested substantial resources in trying to address these issues. We have been looking at ways to make interpreting and translation attractive careers to people with the necessary language skills, even if only at a part time level. Some of the activities that we have been undertaken and which we propose to continue are as follows: Financial subsidies and incentives o We currently offer a subsidy to our registered interpreters who enrol on one of our DPSI training courses (evening, weekend or Distance Learning) o We offer an enhanced rate of pay to interpreters who are DPSI qualified o o We offer students the possibility to pay for the course by instalments We annually sponsor a small number of candidates to sit the DPSI exam, after careful consideration of their particular language combination and professional suitability. For the June 2009 examination diet, we have sponsored a Russian, a Polish, a Swahili and two Pashto candidates. o ILA Scotland We have been working towards accreditation with ILA Scotland in order to allow DPSI candidates to receive funding for their studies. We have successfully progressed to the centre evaluation stage. We are making courses more accessible to interpreters Traditionally, DPSI courses have never been available in certain areas, such as in the Highlands and Islands. o We made our Distance Learning programme available in 2005 and the numbers of Scottish based interpreters undertaking this programme has risen from session to session. In January 2009, one of our Distance Learning students became first ever Polish interpreter to obtain the DPSI in the Highland and Islands region. o We are making local courses available in other regions of Scotland. In 2008 we started our first Edinburgh weekend class (in addition to the Glasgow course which has been running since 2004). This pilot programme has been successful and well received by students, and after its completion, we are planning to run weekend courses in Edinburgh, Inverness and Aberdeen starting in autumn Incentives for career progression We offer a number of incentives for suitable interpreters for whom career progression is a main concern: o Priority in assigning of relevant interpreting assignments o Access to becoming tutors in our DPSI Distance Learning Programme and/or specialised training programmes (such as Introduction to Court Interpreting and Interpreting for the Police ). o Access to network of contacts in professional organisations (Chartered Institute of Linguists and Institute of Translation and Interpreting)

40 We also offer a range of other training programmes (see question H), such as Introduction to Court Interpreting. These training programmes are designed for linguists who may have relevant qualifications (such as MA in Interpreting) but not necessarily the relevant knowledge on how to interpret in a court context. Mentoring programme We have also initiated a mentoring programme, whereby a trainee court interpreter will accompany an already experienced interpreter to observe a real life example of interpreting in a court context. We recently carried out this activity for Polish, Czech and Lithuanian interpreters due to the shortage in these languages. This is a programme which we aim to formalise and expand, but which presents a number of practical difficulties. Amongst other things, interpreters can sometimes see other linguists as competitors rather than colleagues. This is a perception which we are addressing but which is difficult to eradicate completely due to the nature of this work. We are looking at ways in which we can formalise this Mentoring Programme, as we believe it can be an invaluable tool in raising the standards of court, while the trainee interpreters prepare to sit their DPSI examinations. We are assessing, amongst other things, the feasibility of offering financial incentives to the Mentors. Online discussion forums Glossary production We initially piloted the creation of online forums for our interpreters for discussion of interpreting issues and, mainly, discussion of issues relating to translation of terminology. We started by focusing on medical terminology in Stage 1 and there was strong response with a large number of our associates contributing in these discussions. In Stage 2, after several requests by a number of our associates, we initiated the discussion of legal terminology. The legal sector poses particular translation problems (due to the different legal systems and non-equivalence of terminology in translation) and possibly because of that reason, there has been great interest in these discussions. As part of this project, our interpreters are provided with English glossaries of legal terminology and are invited to contribute to the translation of these and/or discuss possible translations of certain problematic terms. We believe this is a pioneering project in many respects as, for many languages, there aren t published specialised bilingual legal dictionaries (or the existing ones are of poor quality), and different schools of translation might have different approaches in the translation of terminology. The ultimate long-term objective of this project would be to provide a comprehensive legal glossary for several languages, which could then be submitted to the Chartered Institute of Linguists (or other relevant authority) for Quality Control and approval before publishing. Such a document would be a unique, invaluable resource in providing a standardised approach to translation of legal terminology. However, in the short term, the knowledge of the contributors will also be enhanced through discussion with professional colleagues. The importance of the latter should not be overlooked, particularly for interpreters who stay in isolated regions and who do not have much contact with other professional colleagues.

41 h. Tenderers should provide evidence of their plans for the Continuous Professional Development for interpreters. The Company defines Continuous Professional Development as a process whereby an Associate demonstrates that he/she has updated and enhanced their competence within a particular period by completing a number of activities provided by either the Company or some other provider. Global Language Services Ltd is committed to professional excellence. In order to achieve this goal, we act in a proactive manner in the setting of high Quality Standards targets for interpreting, translation and transcription. One of the ways we do this is through our extensive training programmes. Global Language Services Ltd has an unequalled training record in Scotland and this is something of which we are proud. We are committed to training and to the continuous professional development of our staff and Associates and this commitment was recognised by the Investor in People award on the 8 th September 2005 and with a successful review in Staff Development and Training Activities operate along two paths - training/development for administrative staff of the company and training/staff-development for self-employed interpreters and translators. Training for employees is encouraged by offering assistance, in terms of time and finance, to pursue professional qualifications and development through attendance at relevant conferences, meetings or further and higher education. All employees are required to undertake a cultural and racial awareness training programme. Interpreters training: We believe that one of the keys to quality assurance is to ensure that our Associates are extensively trained for the tasks they are expected to carry out. Global Language Services Ltd. invests a significant part of its resources every year in training and intends to support similarly its Continuous Professional Development programme. Introduction to interpreting & Induction All our new interpreters are required to complete our induction programme, regardless of their qualifications and/or experience. This consists of a face to face session where they are made aware of basic issues related to interpreting for Global Language Services Ltd. as well as the company policies, procedures and business philosophy. This includes training on racial awareness, diversity and equality issues. Medical Interpreting Short programme to assist interpreters in developing specialist terminology and protocol in NHS settings. Interpreting for the Police Short programme designed to prepare interpreters to work in a Police context. Taught by from the, experienced interpreter and DPSI holder. Introduction to Court Interpreting Two-day programme which uses the Court situation as the means to develop interpreting studies and the relevant practical skills. Currently taught by interpreter and DPSI holder.

42 Diploma in Public Service Interpreting (DPSI) Global Language Services Ltd subsidises the cost of studying towards this qualification for registered interpreters, including the distance learning programme. Global Language Services Ltd is a recognised examination centre for the Chartered Institute of Linguists and has run this course on an evening basis since It continues to be the only language agency in Scotland which is a registered examination centre for the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting. From year to year there has been an increase in the number of our registered associates who have prepared for and received this award. In addition to the above, following consultation with the Chartered Institute of Linguists, the company now provides the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting on a Distance Learning basis and, in fact, is the only organisation in the UK to make such provision. This course was offered in the session for the first time and is now on the third session. We currently have 74 students registered in this programme. Global Language Services Ltd also offers the DPSI as an evening class in Glasgow (where we currently have 33 students) and for the Weekend course held in Edinburgh (where we have 20 students enrolled). This means Global Language Services is currently training 127 candidates for the DPSI examinations. The Distance Learning programme is currently available to our interpreters in the Highlands and Islands and Aberdeenshire area. This is the first time this qualification has been made generally available to interpreters in these regions and we are pleased to say that a number of our interpreters has enrolled in this programme, taking advantage of our subsidised offer (there had been two DPSI courses ran in the past by, but these were only made available for very restricted numbers, focused only on the Local Government Option and were not continued). Due to the increased interest shown in the DPSI in the Highlands and Islands area, we are planning to offer a weekend course based in Inverness for the session. This would be as a follow up to the pilot weekend programme which is currently being run in Edinburgh. This has been a successful programme and, apart from raising the number of candidates sitting the DPSI examination, it has led the Chartered Institute of Linguists (CIOL) to expand their range of languages available. Due to the interest shown by two of our Tagalog students (from the Philippines), the CIOL have agreed to make this language available for the very first time in Scotland (and indeed, the UK) from the 2010 session onwards, when our candidates should be sitting the exam. Diploma in Translation Global Language Services Ltd remains to date the only examination centre where candidates can sit this qualification in Scotland. There were 15 candidates who sat this examination at Global Language Services in early We are also in the final stages of preparing a Distance learning package which should be offered from late 2009 onwards. The purpose of this package will be to raise the profile of this qualification and to improve the general pass rate of this demanding qualification. Continuous Professional Development Record

43 We believe that Continuous Improvement encompasses more than just training courses and, as such, we have a Continuous Professional Development Programme (CPD), which is relevant for all our registered linguists. We believe that it is important for professional linguists to follow a Continuous Professional Development Programme which will allow them to maintain and develop their professional skills throughout their professional life. It also demonstrates a linguist s personal commitment to improvement and advancement. We believe that Continuous Professional Development is a lifelong process that never ceases, regardless of age or seniority. Whilst it is important for linguists to attend ongoing training, we recognise that there are other Continuous Professional Development activities which could also be relevant to an interpreter s profession. Some of these relevant activities might be of a more informal nature, but none the less important. Different interpreters will have different needs in relation to CPD activities and we encourage our linguists to continuously evaluate these in order to determine their own ideal CPD activities. Some examples of what we consider relevant CPD activities include: Conferences, workshops, reading a good periodical both in English and the other language on a daily basis, participating in forums, TEFL programmes, community activities. At this time we are assessing the different weightings which should be allocated to these broad categories and the subdivision within cvategories. We believe that it is important for linguists to continuously evaluate their CPD activities. As such, linguists are encouraged to set objectives on an annual basis, and to maintain a CPD record (using the form attached in Annex B) in order to monitor their activities. Linguists are also required to evaluate their progression at the end of the year, commenting on new skills acquired, lessons learned and progress made towards objectives and then produce objectives for the next year. Completed CPD records can be submitted to Global Language Services Ltd to be kept on the interpreter s personal record and a copy kept by the individual. Global Language Services follows the CPD record set by the Chartered Institute of Linguists. Amongst other things, this is a requirement for a professional linguist to attain Chartered status.

44 i. Tenderers must provide contact details for two referees for work within the last two years that is similar or the same to that required in this service. Details of the information required are held at Annex A to Schedule 2. Note that contact will be made with referees without further reference to you. 1. Referee Organisation Contact Name Title Address Telephone No. Service Provided Period of Contract Approximate Vale 1. Referee Organisation Contact Name Title Address Telephone No. Service Provided Period of Contract Approximate Vale

45 Tenderers should provide details of the methodology used for selection and allocation of interpreters for assignments. Details should include whether a manual or electronic system is used, any scoring mechanism used and information about the grade (or level of responsibility) of the person within your organisation who signs off the final choice of interpreter. Details should be supplied of the procedures and guidance that are in place when the agency has insufficient number of interpreters of the type requested, to supply competing requests from one or more of the collaborative partners. Methodology for selection and allocation of interpreters for assignments Interpreters are selected for an assignment on basis of their suitability in terms of qualifications, experience and background. Global Language Services Ltd currently operates a simple Pass/Fail scoring system in order to vet interpreters for different types of work. According to this system, an interpreter might be suitable, for example, for medical work, but might not be vetted for court work (court interpreters are selected on basis whether they hold the DPSI or equivalent plus court experience). Similarly, an interpreter who has passed the vetting criteria for court work might not necessarily have been vetted for conference work. Details of all interpreters and their suitability for certain types of interpreting assignments are all held in a computerised database. The person making the booking will always draw interpreters from this database when selecting a linguist for the particular job in question. Some of the criteria used by the booking staff in selecting an interpreter can be, for example, whether they have been involved in the case at whichever level, whether the nature of a particular assignment requires a male/female interpreter or whether it requires additional skills (knowledge of a particular subject unrelated to law: (e.g. chemistry, football, aeronautics). In some instances the location of the interpreter and the proximity and accessibility to the appointment are important considerations. Court Interpreter bookings are signed off by Services Ltd, who has overall responsibility for bookings and quality. of Global Language There are a number of full-time staff dedicated to completing interpreting appointments. Such staff tend to operate within a particular category of appointments and therefore become keenly aware of the particular demands of the customer and the contribution of particular interpreters. The level of our activity precludes any one member of staff being iable to be involved in or confirming each and every appointment. At our regional offices appointments are initiated and confirmed by local staff. When interpreters are booked through a regional office for court assignments are vetted by the Director. If they are related to other type of assignments, vetting is usually done by the Business Manager of the relevant local office. All our interpreters hold Disclosure Scotland certificates, with the majority holding enhanced disclosure. Procedures where there is an insufficient number of interpreters Global Language Services Ltd has a proactive recruitment policy and has therefore invested a large number of resources over the years in ensuring we have a wide database of linguists in Scotland. In implementing our local interpreter for local demand policy, we have established 3 additional regional offices, which undertake our recruitment policies at a local level. This has allowed us to build up several local databases of interpreters which allow us to meet the vast majority of booking requests we receive. Instances where we are not able to provide an interpreter are extremely rare, even during the out of hours service. Having said that, it is a fact that there are languages and dialects which, due to the small size of such community, will remain rare and which can, from time to time, present a problem. Should a situation arise, where there is an insufficient number of interpreters of the type requested, the normal practice would be to allocate the said interpreter to the collaborative partner who first

46 booked. That said, it may be that where there is an emergency situation, and the interpreter is reallocated to the most urgent assignment. This situation would be evaluated on a case by case basis by the Director in charge of bookings, in consultation with the Collaborative Partner- a situation which nhas occurred with the Police where they operate a limited detention time. The competing party might then be offered an interpreter who has been sourced through our global network (i.e. from one of our other local Scottish databases). In such an instance, it might be necessary to ask the party to provide alternative dates/times, and every effort would be made to accommodate these alternatives. In extreme circumstances, Global Language Services Ltd might also contact some of our partners in England, should no Scottish interpreter be available for a particular assignment. We have contacts with the Chartered Institute of Linguists, Institute of Translation and Interpreting, National Register of Public Service Interpreters and Regional Language Network. An example of an instance where such a procedure was carried out in order to find suitable interpreters, was the recent where all the suitable interpreters in Scotland had already been involved in the case. Global Language Services Ltd was required to provide three Slovak conference interpreters from England, which we promptly did through our network of contacts.

47 2.9.2 Translation and Transcription a. Tenderers should provide evidence of their organisations practical experience in sourcing and placing translators and transcribers in this area of specialism. Global Language Services Ltd. has been offering translation and transcription services since 2001 and, since then, we have experience continued growth in this sector, both in terms of volume of work and range of clients for whom we provide translation services. We have been awarded a number of tenders both in the Public and Private sector and, in addition to this, we have a large number of regular customers with whom we work on a regular basis but with whom there is no formal agreement. Some of our current customers include: Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service 2006 onwards Ongoing provision of Translation and transcription services for PF departments all over Scotland. Scottish Parliament (2009 onwards) Provision of conference and consecutive interpreting services, translation and transcription. Scottish Legal Aid Board from 2003 onwards Exclusive contract (currently on fourth renewal period) for provision of translation services. Scottish Prison Service 2005 onwards Ongoing provision of translation services

48 . Communities Scotland Languages Website 2002 to Translation of a number of documents relating to housing issues into various languages which are available through the above website. These were to be used by Council workers when dealing with end users who do not speak English and have been designed in a way so as to allow them to download only the relevant sections as and when needed. This was a pioneering project at the time of its launch. Transcription: Global Language Services Ltd has substantial experience providing transcription services for the Scottish Courts, including multilingual transcription. In addition, we also provide these services for a range of other customers on a regular basis, such as the For this contract, in addition to our multilingual transcribers, we will work with the which has produced a range of materials for public services such as information for the Scottish Parliament and for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. Our sub-contractor, the has a total of 11 transcribers working from their office in Glasgow, 7 of whom would be working on the contract. Out of these, 4 are fully qualified audio transcribers, all to the manual standard. Additionally, 1 has the DAISY certificate and 1 has the advanced DAISY certificate both of which are industry standards. In terms of Braille, we have 3 Braillists who are all qualified and have the standard English Braille certificate. In relation to experience, the longest serving transcriber has 16 years of experience, the shortest has 7.

49 b. Tenderers should detail how they will remain flexible to the needs of individual Collaborative Partners whilst maintaining a consistency in levels of service. 24/7 provision As with interpreting requests, flexibility in translation and transcription have always been one of the key aspects of our service provision. We have an out-of-hours stand-by service, where clients can reach us 24/7, and should an urgent translation request arise during out-of-hours, the stand-by staff will have access to our remove mail server so as to ensure this can be deal with in a prompt manner. It has happened on a number of occasions that we were requested translations in the early evening for court hearings take place the following morning. We are please to say that, due to our commitment to customer satisfaction and extensive network of linguists, we are normally able to meet such requests. Large translators database We have a large network of linguists spread out all over Scotland. Many of our translators have been sourced through this network of contacts, but many have also been sourced through other means and a percentage of our translators are based in England. We do not anticipate using translators outwith the UK in order to meet the requirements of this contract. Quality Monitoring Global Language Services Ltd. undertakes a number of set standard activities for translations to ensure our service provision is always to the highest standard. These include: Initial strict recruitment process Vetting of linguist being assigned for current task on a case-by-case basis (e.g. Checking he/she has relevant expertise in the necessary field) Editing and quality checking by in-house project manager o Checking for obvious signs of mistakes, such as counting number of paragraphs, checking dates, number and spelling of names. o Checking the format is accessible to the client (e.g. version of MS Word used, fonts used, whether fonts have been embedded into PDF document) Proofreading by a second linguist Vetting & Training It is a requirement that translators registering should be qualified to at least Diploma in Translation level (unless that is not possible due, for example, to the language in question). Translators are also normally required to submit evidence of previous work, additional qualifications and relevant CPD activities and may be required to undertake a test translation. All translators based in Scotland are normally required to be interviewed in person. All translators have to provide copies of their qualifications and sign our Code of Practice/Ethics, which includes a Statement of Confidentiality... When linguists are entered into our database, we list their specialisations, in order to ensure translations are undertaken by translators with the relevant knowledge. Transcription: The RNIB currently produces a wide variety of information into a number of accessible formats for organisations from all walks of life. They produce information leaflets for local authorities, health boards or utility bills and bank statements or legal documents for individuals. Regardless of the information type the RNIB applies the same rigorous quality standards to achieve high quality products and are always able to discuss any bespoke needs with customers as this is an adaptable and flexible service.

50 c. Tenderers should provide details of the level of qualification and experience of the translators and transcribers you provide, for example, the total number of translators and transcribers and the number of translators and transcribers on your databases who are qualified with the Diploma in Translation (Dip Trans), the number of transcribers who are qualified with the standard English Braille qualification and also with qualifications similar to RNIB's DAP (Digital Audio Production) manual standards, the number of translators and transcribers who have experience in court work and languages spoken (Note: currently the largest area of demand for this service provision will be within the Scottish Legal Sector). Translators: Due to the large number of translators in our database, it is not possible to detail all their qualifications. However, it is our policy that all translators should have a relevant qualification in translation, which should ideally be the Diploma in Translation (should this be available in their language). We currently have a vast database of translators. However, there is a core group of around 50 translators we use on a daily basis for the most requested languages, who are all educated to Diploma in Translation level. As the nature of the work we undertake on a daily basis is of a legal nature, the vast majority of our translators have extensive experience working in the legal sector. Transcribers: The RNIB has a total of 11 transcribers working from their office in Glasgow, 7 of which would be working on the contract. Out of the total, 4 are fully qualified audio transcribers to the RNIB DAP manual standard. In addition 1 has the DAISY certificate and 1 has the advanced DAISY certificate, both of which are industry standards. In terms of Braille we have 3 Braillists who are all qualified and have the standard English Braille certificate. In terms of experience, the longest serving transcriber has 16 years of experience, the shortest has 7. The RNIB has produced a range of materials for public services such as information for the Scottish Parliament and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. We have a team of very experienced transcribers who have unique skills in producing accessible formats.

51 d. With reference to the quality aspect of the provision of this service, it is important that Tenderers describe how your organisation will raise the level of the numbers of (Dip Trans) qualified and experienced translators and the numbers of qualified and court experienced transcribers, over the period of any resultant contract. This response may include proposed value-added deliverables and services not already specified in the Specification. Translators Global Language Services Lt is currently the only registered examination centre for the Diploma in Translation (DipTrans) in the whole of Scotland. Global Language Services plans to become the only organisation in Scotland offering a Distance Learning Course for the Diploma in Translation. Development work has been ongoing over the [past year and we aim to launch the pilot course in selected languages towards the end of This would be a practical course with a small theoretical component, focusing mainly on practical translation work and feedback from an expert tutor We are planning to offer a number of incentives for suitable candidates to pursue this qualification: Career progression Translators with the DipTrans will be able to register with Global Language Services Ltd (and indeed other organisations) as translators. This could be an invaluable factor in increasing the standard of interpreter/translators over the next few years, especially in remote areas. It is currently a problem for interpreters to make a full time income from interpreting which in itself becomes an obstacle for them to pursue activities and qualifications to enhance their skills. We are hoping that by allowing interpreters to train to become also professional, qualified translators that should increase their overall volume of work and retain them in the languages work market as full time dedicated linguists. Financial subsidies We plan to offer a financial subsidy for our registered interpreters who also want to train to become translators similar to the one currently offered for our DPSI courses. It is envisaged that our ILA accreditation will also include the DipTrans course. Flexible payment scheme We plan to offer a flexible payment scheme to allow candidates to pay by instalments (at no extra cost). Sponsoring Whilst it is not practical to do this on a large scale, we will continue with our policy to sponsor promising individuals to undertake their DipTrans examinations. Translators/transcribers are attracted to agencies which offer appointments. At this time we receive more applications than we require and we anticipate that this situation would continue on the award of this contract. Transcribers The nature of our service particulary in the audio field can be a changing feast. This means that the RNIB are constantly developing skills in line with industry standards or changes in the requests from customers. Their centre for accessible information undertakes research and development work into what blind and partially sighted customers want in terms of accessible information. This enables the RNIB to respond to developments in technologies and softwares so that it can keep abreast of changes and be able to produce information in formats customers want. The RNIB has the technological support and infrastructure which enables it to do this. This adds value as it will enable the contract to respond to the changing needs of partners.

52 e. Tenderers should provide evidence of their plans for the Continuous Professional Development for translators and transcribers. Translators: In 2006, there was a research project conducted by the Scottish CILT into public sector interpreting and translation in Scotland. This research project highlighted, amongst other issues, the fact it 'encountered almost no discussion of the qualifications, training, further professional development, employments prospects of translators'. It also stated that 'In the interests both of social justice and of effective services, it would seem appropriate that those requiring translation, interpretation and communication support services should receive similar support in whatever part of Scotland or the UK they live...' Global Language Services Ltd welcomes such initiatives which raise the profile of the importance of having a qualified workforce, with good work prospects and opportunities for CPD so that these linguists can develop and be retained in the marketplace. We have looked in particular detail, to ways of improving the skills of linguists living in more remote locations, and this has resulted in our Distance Learning Programmes. Our CPD scheme for translators falls under what has already been described in h. As previously mentioned, we believe that CPD is more than a collection of training courses and we aim to developing and facilitate a framework of not only training but also development opportunitites to enhance the skills of our workforce. As mentioned, the vast majority of our translators is qualified to DipTrans level or equivalent. However, we recognise the need to constantly offer opportunities not only for new translators to become qualified to an acceptable level, but also for existing translators to refresh, enhance and expand their knowledge and areas of specialisation. In this sense, we aim to: Offer training programmes Short courses / workshops Diploma in translation Global Language Services Ltd remains to date the only examination centre where candidates can sit this qualification in Scotland. There were 15 candidates who sat this examination at Global Language Services in early We are also in the final stages of preparing a Distance learning package which should be offered from late 2009 onwards. The purpose of this package will be to raise the profile of this qualification and to improve the general pass rate of this demanding qualification. Continue to cooperate with the Chartered Insitute of Linguists and the Institute of Translation and Interpreting in the provision and advertising of specialised translation workshops Facilitate access to training programmes through financial support, sponsorship, ILA accreditation and other means Implement and maintain a CPD record programme (described in h) Offer professional opportunities

53 Transcribers: Training needs of RNIB transcription officers are identified at the annual appraisal of each member of staff. A training plan is created following each appraisal where any skills gaps or refresher training is identified. All the RNIB s audio staff aim to have achieved the advanced DAISY certificate by the end of March Braille transcribers constantly update their skills depending on any changes to the Braille code or changes in the demands of customers. Being part of a UK organisation gives the RNIB access to training resources which enable staff to keep their unique skills sets up to date. Training is driven by the need to keep up to date with industry standards and so is reviewed on a 6 weekly basis at staff reviews.

54 f. With reference to the five levels of turnaround for translators and transcribers Schedule B para It is envisaged that occasionally there will be requirements for large scale work that cannot be fitted within these timescales: for example, a 500 page document to be transcribed and translated, involving design work. Tenderers should advise their parameters or limits for such large scale work. Global Language Services Ltd. always aims to meet our customer s needs. There may be situations where this is not possible to do (e.g. a 500 page translation to be done overnight). It is generally accepted that a translator can translate between 2,000 and 3,000 words per day to a professional standard. It is not usually considered that any individual turning out more than 3,000 words in a day can do so to an acceptable professional standard. We do have a large database of linguists who are usually available out of hours and who are available to work extra long hours occasionally when required. This should be considered with caution and we should bear in mind that there is a limit to what can physically be done in order to avoid a trade-off between quantity and quality. There are a number of measures that can be adopted in order to deliver a particularly large translation quicker than normal. Dividing the work between a team of translators. This can be done in several ways and the most appropriate manner is usually determined by the specialist project manager o Splitting up a text between several translators and then getting one single translator to proofread the whole text for consistency. This method has the clear disadvantage that time constraints are still determined by how quickly the single proof-reader can work. o If the text for translation is composed of several independent units or documents, these can be divided amongst several translators, who can work simultaneously. This is an approach which we sometimes use for work from the Scottish Children s Reporter Administration, for example. These requests for translation can sometimes be composed of several distinct reports which can logically be divided amongst several translators in order to ensure a speedy turnaround. Maintaining templates in several languages This is an approach we already use for several customers. It has the advantage of minimising turnaround times and providing cost economies to the client. In house design team We have a Desktop/Typesetter specialist in-house who can work with a number of design packages, which ensures work of this nature can be done in a speedy manner. Transcription: For larger jobs of around 500 pages we would endeavour to negotiate an acceptable deadline with the customer. Additionally, being a national charity, the RNIB also has a network of transcription services across the UK which we can use to ensure that customer deadlines would be met.

55 g. Tenderers must provide contact details for two referees for work within the last two years that is similar or the same to that required in these services. Details of the information required are held at Annex A to Schedule 2. Note that contact will be made with referees without further reference to you. 1. Referee Organisation Contact Name Title Address Telephone No. Service Provided Period of Contract Approximate Vale 2. Referee Organisation Contact Name Title Address Telephone No. Service Provided Period of Contract Approximate Vale Transcription: The RNIB has a contract with to provide transcription services. The contract was awarded in November 2007 and will run to October The contract includes the provision of transcription in all formats for blind and partially sighted customers such as Braille, Audio (tape, CD and DAISY) and electronic versions. The contact name for this contract is The RNIB also has a contract with for the provisions of Braille services to all blind and partially sighted school children within the Glasgow area. The transcription of this information requires more skill and technical expertise and obviously quality control is very important. The contract contact is

56 2.9.3 Electronic Transfer of Documents Translation, Transcription a. Tenderers will need to demonstrate how they will make maximum use of electronic means for the transfer of documents. Tenderers should explain how this will be achieved, stating the technologies, media and methods they intend to deploy. Tenderers should also explain how they will address the issues of (i) security and (ii) typeface for non-western European languages. It is company policy to transmit documents electronically in all communications whenever possible. On rare occasions where this is not possible, or should the client require different media, then documents can be sent in different formats. When receiving documents for translation and/or transcription, we are usually flexible in relation to the acceptable transmission methods. We can accept documents sent by , fax or as hard copies. However, we encourage clients, whenever possible, to send us documents by electronic means. All transmission of documents between the company and its freelance translators are usually sent by . On occasion, where documents cannot be transmitted in this manner, they can be sent as hard copies or the translators may be required to collect them from our office or be couriered and delivered in hand (if there are particularly strong security/confidentiality concerns). Security Our server is hosted remotely,is is password encrypted and proteceted by a firewall. We also have an in-house file server which holds our distribution software. The local server downloads all messages from the remote server and then automatically distributes them to the appropriate person/department. Should there be technical problems with the local server, the senior managers have passwords to gain access to the remote server, so that work is not disrupted. In such situations, passwords are passed on to the necessary staff and then changed after systems are back to normal. All our computers (both server and terminals) are protected by firewalls which are regularly updated All computer terminals are password protected and are set to automatically switch themselves off after a short period of inactivity, in order to ensure that there are no security compromises due, for example, to a member of staff leaving a terminal on overnight or during a lunch break. Server data is backed up on a daily basis to an encrypted separate hard drive. Documents, if required, are kept in a lock-safe room and shredded after a certain period of time after completion. Office keys are only kept by the most senior managers and all external office doors have 2 locks. Information is only disseminated within the company on a need-to-know basis. Our admin staff are trained in data protection issues and are required to sign a Code of Confidentiality (enclosed as Annex C). All our freelance linguists are required to sign a Code of Practice / Ethics which includes a Statement of Confidentiality (Annex D) All our internal and external staff have to obtain a Disclosure Scotland certificate.

57 Typeface for non-western European languages Global Language Services Ltd currently provides typesetting support for any language. Documents in languages that use the Latin character set or which can be typed using a generic font (e.g. Russian) are normally sent as Word files unless the customer specifies otherwise. Documents in languages which do not use the Latin character set or which cannot be typed with a generic font, are usually sent as PDF files with the font embedded. This ensures they can be easily displayed in any computer If advanced editing needs to be done, we can do this in-house, or we can provide support in terms of font installation packs so that the client can do the editing themselves. We provide Desktop Publishing and typesetting in most languages and we have access to most of the currently used design packages: Quark Xpress, In design, Illustrator, Photoshop and Freehand.

58 b. Tenderers should provide a process flow diagram to illustrate the process from receipt of order to delivery. Receipt of Order Issue quotation Receive confirmation Accepted? NO Receive feedback YES Send to translator NO Proofreading required? YES Send to Proofreader Translation OK? NO YES Internal Editing and Quality Check NO Meets requirements? YES Delivery Receive feedback

59 2.10 Tenderers should confirm which of the languages in Schedule B Annex 1 they can provide. Tenderers should complete and return this Annex. This list indicates that with very few exceptions, at this time Global Language Services Ltd can provide the languages required. The table contained in Schedule B, Annex 1 has been included as Annex N Tenderers must provide details of what additional languages they can provide. The extensive list of additional languages offered by this company has been included as Annex O.

60 2.12 Tenderers should provide a statement explaining how they will source suitable interpreters for any additional language required. Global Language Services Ltd would source interpreters for additional languages in the following manner: Through the Chartered Institute of Linguists Through the Institute of Translation and Interpreting Trough the National Register of Public Service Interpreting Through the Regional Language Network Through education institutions which offer relevant interpreting and translation courses, such as the Heriot-Watt University in Edinburgh. For rare languages, through referral from associations such as the African Society of Edinburgh or the Gaelic Society of Inverness By recommendation through our extensive network of linguists

61 2.13 Tenderers must identify how their organisation intends to ensure that interpreting, translation and transcription service levels are achieved and maintained irrespective of geographic location, while meeting the evolving needs of the Collaborative Partners. (Max 1 page A4) Global Language Services Ltd is commited to providing a quality customer oriented service. such, we always aim to provide a service which will be to the entire satisfaction of our customers. As We are always adapting our procedures in order to ensure that our services are supplied in a manner that meets our clients requirements. We acknowledge the fact that different clients may have different, or indeed frequently changing requirements and this is something we constantly monitor. In order to do this, the company recognises that providing a global Scottish provision of interpreting, translation and transcription services poses challenges and this is something which we have considered at length. The following are some of the measures we have taken: Establishing regional offices in strategic locations in Scotland. We currently have 4 regional offices in Scotland. These offices help us o Recruit and maintain a local database of linguists o Ensure standards are adhered to during registration of linguists o Ensure standards are maintained during provision of services o Ensuring customer requests are dealt with promptly. Appointing of a regional Business Manager at each of our local offices, who is responsible for local recruitment and ensuring that the profile of our local workforce meets the needs of our customers. Implementation of our CPD policy throughout all our Scottish offices Providing training and making it accessible to all our associates by offering various programmes in different regions of Scotland (e.g. Distance Learning DPSI, local DPSI course in Glasgow, Edinburgh and, for the next session, also Inverness) Creation of internal corporate procedures for handling translation, interpreting and transcription requests. Fair assessment of our linguists who do not meet the service levels and, where appropriate, further training. Remaining flexible in the provision of our services in order to meet changing/evolving/new requirements.

62 2.14 Tenderers must confirm that they would provide back-to-back service levels with any sub-contractors to the contract. Particular reference should be made to areas of geographic difficulty, in relation to consistency of service for all Collaborative Partners. If appropriate, tenderers must provide details of any previous experience as either a main contractor or a sub-contractor. Our only subcontractor would be the RNIB for transcription services. This is to confirm that this subcontractor will provide back-to-back service levels as undertaken by Global Language Services Ltd for this contract. We have worked with this organisation on previous occasions and are confident that they can meet the required levels of service. Given the nature of the work being sub-contracted, geographic difficulties would not apply Tenderers should provide details of which of the services they intend to subcontract and how much of these services do you intend to subcontract. Global Language Services Ltd. Will subcontract all English to English, Braille and Large print transcription to the RNIB Glasgow, who are specialists in this field. Multilingual transcription would be undertaken in collaboration with our specialist linguists currently held in our database.

63 2.16 Tenderers must provide information on the policies and procedures they have in place to ensure that all work undertaken for the Collaborative Partners is to agreed standards and how this is built into different aspects of the work. Information must be included on how your organisation would assess the particular requirements of a Collaborative Partner and relate to your management of Interpreting, Translation and Transcription services during assignments. In the first instance, Global Language Services Ltd has a series of different general policies and procedures in place which governs our work and processes. These aim to standardise the level of service we provide to all our customers and include: Health and Safety Policy (Annex E) Equal Opportunities Employment Policy (Annex F) Data Protection Policy (Annex G) Racial Equality Policy (Annex H) Environmental Policy (Annex I) At a more specific level, we have departmental procedures on how to undertake certain tasks. These are standardised in order to ensure that all employees are working to set standards set by the Directors/Department Manager and can relate to basic and standard procedures such as: General booking procedures Court booking procedure Enquiry acknowledgement procedure (to deal with incoming enquiries by ) Translation/transcription handling procedures Global Language Services Ltd has been a supplier for several of the Collaborative Partner organisations for a number of years and, as such, we have developed procedures to meet the specific requirements of each of these clients. We are aware that different organisations have very different requirements in relation to booking procedures, information format, invoicing procedures, usage reports and ongoing support. We also know that these can evolve through time and/or change entirely after the award of this contract. We know for example, that the Scottish Courts Service and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service currently have not identical requirements in terms of procedures for booking, invoicing and provision of management reports. We always try to accommodate these requirements as far as is practically possible and will continue to remain available to discuss any new requirements and incorporate them into our standard work procedures. Implementation Following the initial meeting with the Strategic Manager and contacts with the different CVollaborative Partners with the Account M<anager the initial requirements of each partner can be discussed and considered and determined.. We are aware that some of these requirements have already been highlighted in the specification (e.g. DPSI qualified interpreters), but it is important to understand the nature of any specific requirements. We acknowledge the fact that it may not be possible to identify all the requirements at an initial stage, and we would continue to monitor processes and remain receptive to suggestions for improvements or additional requirements. Issues may arise through regular reports and meetings and operation contacts. We are also aware that, on occasion, some assignments may fall outiwth the normal scope of requirements. All our admin staff operate in particular fields and are trained to remain customer focused in such instances, in order to ensure that the assignment can be successfully carried out to the customer s satisfaction. Where a non-conforming assignment is identified, the relevant manager will contact the Collaborative Partner s point of contact and discuss the best manner to successfully carry out the assignment. Depending on the specific circumstances, our manager may simply seek advice, or propose an approach.

64 2.17 Tenderers must outline their procedures for managing complaints or problems and detail the escalation procedures in place for the Collaborative Partners at both an operational and contractual level in line with section 10 and 11 of the Specification. (max 1 page A4) Complaints Procedures: Where a customer and/or client or associate considers that the service provided by Global Language Services Ltd does not meet the standard of service that they consider they are entitled to expect, then a complaint or request for an investigation may be made to the company. All complaints irrespective of their nature or source are entered on receipt in a Register of Complaints. This entry records: The nature of the complaint The name of the person making the complaint and contact details The date and time at which the complaint was received Action taken to remedy the complaint Date when the remedy was completed The relevant Global Language Services Ltd department manager begins an investigation into the complaint/request and within 2 working days provide a response and/or resolution of an issue or provide an update of the investigation to the complainant. Verbal complaints will usually have a verbal response, unless a written statement is required. Written complaints will usually have a written reply unless it has been indicated a verbal reply will suffice. In all situations, however, there will be recorded in the Register of Complaints the additional information: Action taken to resolve the issue Date and time Global Language Services Ltd staff involved Contact details of customer/client to whom details are provided In instances where the department manager considers that he/she cannot resolve the issue or where the complainant is not adequately satisfied with the proposed corrective action, then the issue will be referred to a company Director for further investigation and consideration. This additional action will also be recorded in the register of complaints. If there remains dissatisfaction or non-completion of the resolution of the complaint, the participants may require to appoint an external third party for arbitration. We will abide by the Dispute Resolution Guidelines as highlighted in section 38 of the Terms and Conditions of Contract. Managing Conflict: Any conflict between an external organisation or individual and a representative of Global Language Services Ltd will be governed by the guidelines established within our complaints and disciplinary procedures. If applicable, the Dispute Resolution Guidelines described in section 38 of the Terms and Conditions of Contract would be followed. Any internal conflict will be investigated with the aim of resolving the conflict harmoniously. In an organisation of our size and numbers, the mediation procedure would be established by one of the directors.

65 2.18 Tenderers should detail how they will maintain a Help-Desk facility to provide assistance to customers, information on ordering procedures, and advice and guidance on translation and transcription questions. Tenderers should also indicate whether they host a website giving information about this and other services that are provided. Help-Desk support can be accessed through the usual number during the core opening hours from 8am to 6pm. Outwith these hours we operate a stand-by service which can be accessed 24/7. This stand-by service can also be used for enquiries on ordering procedures or of a general nature. On occasion, it might not be possible to provide technical advice regarding translation and transcription services outwith the core working hours. We also have a website which provides general information on the types of services we provide and how to access them

66 2.19 Tenderers should detail how they will maintain a 24 hours, 7 days a week reservation line for receiving short notice requests on interpreting services e.g. requests made by the police on behalf of one of the collaborative partners. Global Language Services Ltd already operates a 24 hours per day, 7 days per week reservation line for receiving short notice requests. The operation of this line forms an essential part of our service provision for Strathclyde Police, for whom we currently provide interpreters out of normal office working hours on a daily basis. As we have been operating this on an ongoing basis for several years now, we are aware that there are two key elements to this type of service provision: 1. Easily accessibly telephone number We only have one bookings telephone number (with several lines), which can be used to make a booking irrespective of whether the client is trying to access the services of an interpreter during or outwith the core working hours. We believe that it is essential for our clients to have a straightforward and uncomplicated procedure to access our services and thus the single point of contact. 2. Availability of linguists outwith the core working hours We are aware that it not enough to simply have a number which is available 24/7, it is also important to ensure we have the workforce to meet requests received during those times. This is of paramount importance in order to ensure our customers can access our services with confidence. As we have been providing this service on a regular basis for several years, we have developed a database of linguists who are available for such work. Most requests we receive are from the Greater Glasgow region, but it is important to emphasise that we do offer this service at a national level. Customers from Northern Scotland or from the East Coast can contact us our of hours through their normal local office numbers. Some of the other organisations accessing this service on a regular basis include

67 2.20 Tenderers must provide details of your standard procedures for monitoring, evaluating and maintaining quality of service and for ensuring timely and accurate delivery of contracts (Section 4 of Schedule B refers). Monitoring Procedures Ongoing monitoring is a key aspect of high standard service provision. This is paramount to the maintenance of our Quality Standards. Monitoring is undertaken in a variety of forms throughout our service provision with the objective of measuring its suitability: Telephone - as a follow up to an appointment both with the customer and the interpreter. These are selected on a random basis other than for first appointments where contact is made with interpreter and customer. Service Quality Questionnaires Global Language Services Ltd. issues Service Quality Questionnaires to a random selection of customers on a weekly basis. The results of these questionnaires are compiled into a report and assessed by management in order to ensure that the feedback relating to our service provision meets the required standards. Where appropriate, information collated from the Questionnaires is incorporated into our training sessions and the provision of feedback. Interpreter s timesheet there is a space reserved for client s comments on each interpreter s timesheet. Clients are free to make any comments they think appropriate when an interpreter presents the timesheet for signing. On-site monitoring This is not suitable for many appointments due to the confidential nature of interpreting work. However, Global Language Services Ltd. does carry out ongoing on-site monitoring whenever possible, such as in open court cases, for example. This is undertaken by the Head of Monitoring (who mainly looks at procedural issues) or by a chosen experienced consultant who speaks the language requested. The company previously provided a monitoring serice for Court appointments. This involved an experienced and qualified interpreter reviewiong performance at Court appointments. Such a service can be reintroduced and extended but will require additional monitors so that content as well as context can be assessed. There will also require to bne consideration of the cost implications. and Procedures for evaluating and maintaining quality of service Global Language Services Ltd recognises that service quality is an ongoing process and activities to achieve and maintain these standards impact on all of the company activities. Emphasis is given to the following: Established customer care programme for clients, external and internal key personnel. Procedures to select and recruit competent linguists, which involves interview and assessment, Enhanced Disclosure application, take-up of references and completion and acceptance of Codes of Practice and Ethics for interpreters. Random sample procedure for issue of Service Quality Questionnaire. Recommendations, after review, are incorporated into individual or group training programmes. Selection and training of permanent staff (recognised by award of the Investor in People Quality Standard).

68 Training of Associates induction training and specialist training. E.g. Court interpreting, interpreting for the Police, interpreting for the NHS, and subsidised preparation for the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting. Interpreters are supported in their preparation for the DPSI. Established Complaints and Disciplinary Procedures. Development of forums organised on a language basis. Proofreading of translations Undertaken by a second linguist in order to ensure accuracy. Recruitment and Selection of Interpreters There is in place rigorous procedures for the recruitment and selection of Interpreters and these are detailed in Question 3.1. Timely and accurate delivery of contracts Procedures are in place which require interpreters, translators and transcribers to confirm acceptance of the time or lead time of the appointment. This time is monitored and appropriate contacts made where necessary.

69 2.21 The Tenderer shall as part of their tender submission provide details of their quality plan which shall set out the steps to be taken to ensure delivery of the required level of performance (Section 4 of Schedule B refers) Key areas in respect of quality will be: a. Quality plan; When Global Language Services Ltd. created its first Quality Plan there was general agreement that the purpose of the plan was to define how we intended to deliver our interpreting, translation and tuition services so that they would satisfy our customer quality expectations and our own quality standards. Service characteristics such as intangibility of the service and inseparability of service from customer combined to present barriers to planning. The absence of external standards contributed to these difficulties. As a result, the company set standards for interpreting based on our knowledge of customer requirements and these recognised the need for standards at the appointment-making stage, at the appointment and post appointment activities. The main categories or standards identified and defined were professionalism and courtesy, reliability, punctuality, accuracy and adherence to our Code of Practice and Code of Conduct. These broad characteristics underpin all our activities and service provisions interpreting, translating, transcribing and tuition. b. Internal systems and procedures; Standardised appointment procedure Formal and detailed selection and recruitment procedures Completion of personal and professional references and Disclosure Scotland Enhanced Award Induction to company procedures and required operational standards of interpreting, translation and transcription at registration Introduction to Interpreting programme Further specialist training programmes - Introduction to Court Interpreting, Introduction to Police Interpreting and Introduction to Health Interpreting. Diploma in Public Service Interpreting company provides its own courses, evening, weekend-structure or Distance Learning and subsidises study Service quality contact with customer/s following new appointment. Opportunity for customer response re quality on completed Time Sheet Service quality questionnaires selected randomly and issued on a weekly basis Follow up to contact after delivery of translations to assess satisfaction Diploma in Translation the company plans to launch it own course in the near future CPD detailed continuous improvement plan for translators and interpreters c. Quality of resources including sub-contracted translators and transcribers; Procedures adopted by this company with reference to the Baseline Personnel Security Standard are detailed in Section 3.1. A significant feature of these procedures is that the company, as a result of its status and activities, receives many applications from interpreters, translators and transcribers who are in possession of relevant qualifications and experience and therefore we begin with resources of a good quality. We then, of course, build on that position. With translators in particular we request and receive examples of work completed and details of customers from whom they have received assignments.

70 d. Quality of monitoring, reporting and corrective actions including measuring user satisfaction, provision of a complaints mechanism, and a process for dispute resolution; This information is provided in the response to questions b, b and e. Quality of induction of users The company piloted a training programme at its Inverness Office on How to use Interpreters effectively. While this programme was tailored for the specific requirements of staff from Medical Practices this 2-3 hour programme may be designed to meet the requirements of other groups. Contact will be made with individual Collaborative Partners at the commencement of the contract and an Introducing Global Languages Pack will be forwarded to the designated contact person. It remains standard practice to provide each new customer with an Introducing Global Languages Pack which outlines our operational procedures, leaflets on placing an order for translation and transcription and on the use of interpreters. f. Continuous improvement strategy The company strategy in this regard recognises the contribution of an effective Continuous Development Programme (CPD) particularly with interpreters distributed over a wide area and where many forms of formal training and education may not be available. Within the last few months, the company has established language based online forums, operating presently for 26 different languages. It is planned that this medium will become an essential complement to developing the CPD programme. A medium term goal is to develop the company s involvement in video conferencing. Initial steps have been taken and it is planned that our Inverness Office will arrange a training programme in the use of this method in this year. g. Independent quality measurement tools employed e.g. EFQM, IiP, BS, etc. The company received the Investor in People award on the first occasion in September 2005 and this was reviewed and extended in September The company is undertaking discussions with regard to an International Management Standard. This is being undertaken as the company recognises the importance of people to service quality. Procedures and processes are only as effective as the people who operate them.

71 2.22 Tenderers must describe your quality assurance and control procedures and whether your organisation has sought accreditation under any recognised accreditation scheme and the outcome. We believe that one of the signs of a quality service provision is attaining recognition by the relevant bodies and authorities, as they provide a concrete and externally objective measurement of Quality. As such, Global Language Services has pursued and obtained the following Quality Standards. Investor in People Quality Standard in September 2005 (successfully reassessed in 2008). We believe that we are the first Language Service Agency - certainly in Scotland - to attain this award and it was particularly pleasing to have the Assessor comment on the level of training that we provide for our Associates - our interpreters and translators. Corporate membership of the ITI, (Institute of Translation and Interpreting). The only agency in Scotland which is registered and accredited to offer the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting. We are also the only agency in the UK to offer this course on a distance learning basis and in collaboration with the Chartered Institute of Linguists. The only agency in Scotland which is an accredited examination centre for the Chartered Institute of Linguists (Diploma in Translation and Diploma in Public Service Interpreting). Member of the Glasgow, Edinburgh and Inverness Chambers of Commerce. Corporate Membership of the African Society of Edinburgh Our standing is reflected by requests to work in partnership with various working parties such as the Chartered Institute of Linguists and the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service to provide an input into Quality Standards regarding the provision of interpreting and translation. Preparation for an International Quality Standard. Internally weekly reports are provided for a number of activities, including level and type of assignments and these figures are discussed with appropriate staff. Complaints and quality comments on Time Sheets are investigated and followed-up. L:etters and s of commendation are always communiocated to staff.

72 2.23 Tenderers should provide details of how they will provide the management information required within section 9, Schedule B of the Specification including an example of the format. Management information would be provided as required, in a format similar to the report included as annex J. We currently have management information systems in place which allow us to compile and monitor all of the required information as specified in section 9.1, Schedule B. We use SAGE systems to collect relevant data for management purposes. This is then tailored to a format agreed with the customer. We already use this system to provide regular management information reports to several of our customers. The exact format and style of the reports to be provided under this contract, would be provided as agreed with each of the Collaborative Partners as required in section 9.2, Schedule B.

73 2.24 Tenderers must provide examples of management information with reference to Section 9.1 of Schedule B that their organisation currently supplies to other organisations, detail any innovative practices they can offer and explain how this has added value for current clients. Global Language Services Ltd currently provides similar management information to a series of customers. Some of these include: Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Monthly management report showing number of areas covered, offices covered, number of different languages requested, total number of interpreting assignments by area, total number of translation assignments and total number of cancelled interpreting assignments (sample enclosed as Annex J) We believe these reports are invaluable in giving our customers: A better understanding of volume of spending so that budgets can be more accurately allocated. This is particularly relevant in areas where there has been a surge in the number of interpreting requests in the past few years, such as has occurred in the Highlands and Islands region. A better understanding of ethnic composition of the community. There have been some areas in Scotland where there has been substantial changes in the ethnic composition of communities and where these keep changing rapidly. These reports should allow our customers to have a better understanding of these changes. Help customers make informed strategic decisions. If a customer would, for example, decide to employ bilingual staff in order to minimise interpreting costs (as has happened with some of our customers), our management reports should help them make a more informed decision. Help customers monitor service quality level of internal services. If, for example, a customer sees that there is a sudden drop/rise in interpreting or translation requests for a particular area, they may want to investigate whether this is a result of improved/worse quality procedures of that particular area/department. Help customers identify training needs. By identifying which areas/regions make most use of our services, customers can make a more informed decision on how to maximise training resources

74 2.25 Tenderers must indicate which of the content options (either ecatalogue or punch out) for e-procurement that they could provide (see section of Specification) and detail any experience that their organisation has in facilitating such a solution. (Max 1 page A4) A number of organisations in the public sector have requested services by electronic means but, to date, the format of such requests remains unstandardised and varies according to the organisation, department, and even depending on the person requesting the services. We aim to meet any booking request, independently of the manner in which it is received. However, we welcome the move towards standardised e-procurement and have considered how these new systems can be practically used in the language sector. We will liaise with the Collaborative Partners in order to provide ecatalogue. We think this is a system which could be beneficial in the short term. In addition, we have also considered Punch Out and have held initial discussions with the software company developing our booking system. Bookings are often received at the moment by electronic means. We have held initial discussions with our software company to check whether it would be possible for customers to submit electronic bookings through a designated website linked with our booking system. Each customer would have a password to login and a customer code. Bookings submitted through the website would then automatically show in our bookings system and this could be linked with Punch Out. This would allow customers to have a simple system to make electronic bookings, whilst having peace of mind that all the information required had been received by a reliable system. We are aware that, as this is new technology in the public sector, there will be the need for extensive consultation and discussion and we will seek to cooperate with the Collaborative Partners in its development and implementation.

75 2.26 Tenderers must indicate which of the connection options for e-procurement that they could provide (see section of Specification) and detail any experience that their organisation has in facilitating such a solution. (Max 1 page A4). Global Language Services Ltd can currently provide the following connection connections: Post Fax We also anticipate being able to provide support for EDI and cxml, but we would need to have discussions with the Collaborative Partners in relation to the standards and formats to be used. We would like these to be linked to our new booking system in order to ensure the process is as automatised as is possible to reduce the admin input from the customer s point of view.

76 2.27 Tenderers must indicate which of the payment options outlined in section of the Specification they can facilitate. The tenderer should use this question to propose innovative and progressive e-commerce solutions (e.g. self billing, electronic timesheets). Global Language Services Ltd currently has systems in place to support all the proposed payment methods in section of the Specification: Paper invoices Embedded Purchase Card Consolidated Electronic Invoice Self-Billing We already work with a number of organisations who receive consolidated invoices on a monthly basis (Lothian and Borders NHS, NHS Highland, Highland Council) and feedback on this system so far has been positive from the customer s point of view as it reduces the amount of administrative work in processing invoices. A booking software system is being developed at the moment and one of the areas that is being considered is the possibility of submitting electronic web-based timesheets. However, this presents a number of practical problems, amongst which, the fact that we are often required to produce copies of the signed timesheets by our clients. There is also the practical issue of not being able to check that the times entered in the online timesheet are indeed the correct times the interpreter worked, al;though there is the possibility to submit in attachment a scanned copy of the physical timesheet to the electronic timesheet.

77 2.28 Tenderers must identify their organisation s Unique Selling Point (USP) in terms of attracting good quality Interpreters, Translators and Transcriptionists which sets their organisation apart from others offering similar services. (Max 1 page A4) We believe we are able to attract professional linguists for the following reasons: Company ethos regarding service quality and employment issues Network of active offices already established in main areas of Scotland with possibility of further offices. Professional rates of pay Our Company operates an open rates policy and we have a flat rate for all unqualified linguists and another flat rate for all qualified linguists. Personal and friendly approach We operate in a customer oriented manner in all areas of our business, both with our external customers and with our internal customers (the linguists). Ethical business model We have an ethical business model. We do not believe in unfair profit and we believe that all parties involved in our service provision should receive fair remuneration and training opportunities. Pro-active and market leader We take a proactive approach in exploring new business areas, so as to sustain continued growth and an increasing volume of work opportunities for our linguists. We also regularly take part in a number of research activities in this area. Opportunities for career development due to our company profile, i.e. the range of unique training and development opportunities, we believe we offer the widest range of career advancement opportunities. Some linguists have the opportunity to become DPSI / DipTrans tutors, DPSI examiners or full time contracted linguists. Our quite clear commitment to training and development of all Associates

78 2.29 Tenderers must describe how their organisation would maximise opportunities for sharing best practice across the Collaborative Partners. Global Language Services Ltd has been involved in a number of activities which aim to increase the standard of the industry, both from the point of view of the service provider and of the entity accessing the services. Part of the COPFS (Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service) group which meets quarterly to discuss strategic issues relating to the provision of interpreting services. COPFS Invited to have an input in the creation of a new training video to be used both by the service provides and by professionals using interpreting services. Extensive training programme We have an extensive training programme which encompasses many activities and which is open to all professionals. Several individuals from our customer organisations have also enrolled in our training programmes. Provision of training for people working with interpreters We have been invited to provide training for services using interpreters. In 2008 we provided a training session for Medical Doctors in the Highland and Islands region organised in cooperation with the NHS Highland. Availability of our experienced trainer, Mr. Harnek Monon, who has provided training on how to use interpreters for: o o COPFS (Edinburgh University and Hamilton) Provision of accurate, detailed management reports to help the Collaborative Partners identify priority areas/regions for training.

79 2.30 Any information requested in any part of this document, but not included elsewhere should be given under this heading. The Tenderer is free to provide additional information, e.g. Proposed Value-added Deliverables and Services not already specified in the Specification. These should be kept separate from that which is specifically requested. Potential Additional Contribution: Provision of training to staff of the Collaborative Partners on the use of interpreters and/or the effective use of translation. Development of a monitoring procedure. Provision of methods of dissemination of good practice amongst Collaborative Partrners and, separately, our Associates. Provision of a telephone interpreting sevrice Fees: Rates for typesetting and design services are our standard rates. Exact costs would depend on the specification of the request and a quote would be issued at the time. For typesetting, where the original source files are provided in Quark Xpress or Indesign, there would be a 20% discount on the rates shown in the pricing schedule. for translation in the pricing schedule are the same for all languages. Transcription additional charge additional CD/tape required. Download fee of additional format, if a recording is required in more than one format (e.g. Audio tape and DVD) Cancellation Policy: o Standard procedure - Less than 3 working days from the start of appointment minimum appointment time of 2 hours would be charged for each day of the agreed/estimated booking. o Conference interpreters less than two weeks from the start of the appointment - full payment will be required.

80 3. COMPLIANCE WITH LEGISLATION, REGULATORY PROVISIONS & SECURITY REQUIREMENTS 3.1 Tenderers must detail their organisation s experience of applying the Baseline Personnel Security Standard (or equivalent standard), including how they carry out appropriate checks. In addition, detail experience of using the Disclosure Scotland process and if any a higher level of security clearance. Global Language Services Ltd current recruitment & vetting policy meets all the requirements of the Baseline Personnel Security Standard. We have a recruitment policy which is divided into different stages in order to assess the candidate s suitability for work. During these stages, all the following information as required by the Baseline Standard is verified: Identity (photocopy of individual s Passport or ID document is kept in file) Employment History for at least previous 3 years Nationality and Immigration Status & Permission to work in the UK (Copy of Visa or Home Office letter granting leave to stay / permission to work in the UK) Criminal Records Declaration Enhanced Disclosure Scotland check National Insurance Number (if available) Education History & Copies of relevant qualifications At least 2 references We believe that the first step in quality assurance is our recruitment and vetting process (detailed below). This allows us to identify those individuals who are suitable to carry out the service provision to our high standard. The needs of the clients are of paramount importance here. Our recruitment policy and selection criteria set out that all candidates for the position of interpreter and translator should meet the following minimum requirements: Be educated to diploma/degree level or equivalent, ideally with a relevant qualification in translation and/or interpreting. Have relevant experience in interpreting and/or translation. Where this requirement cannot be met, due for example, to the candidate speaking a rare language, this should be complemented by our training programme. Sign and abide by our Code of Conduct/Ethics (see Annex D). Complete application for Enhanced Disclosure (Scotland) certificate. Ideally be in possession of the relevant professional qualification: Diploma in Public Service Interpreting or Diploma in Translation (if available in their language) from the Chartered Institute of Linguists or equivalent qualification. Ideally be members of: o Chartered Institute of Linguists o National Register of Public Service Interpreters o Institute of Translation and Interpreting Global Language Services Ltd policy is to recruit interpreter applicants who hold the Diploma in Public Service Interpreting, and/or Diploma in Translation and/or an undergraduate or postgraduate award in interpreting and translation. These educational qualifications should be complemented with appropriate experience. Concerning translation, ALL translators must be in possession of one of the above qualifications, unless it is not available in their specific language.

81 Linguist Recruitment / Vetting Procedures: Initially we attempt to identify those individuals whose language skills do meet our very stringent standards. Second, we are aware that a bilingual is not the same as a linguist and as such we attempt to identify those individuals who, despite their fluency in two or more languages, are not sufficiently competent for such work, or who need to undertake specific training before attaining the required standard. Stage 1: Stage 2: Assessment of applicant s CV Upon receipt of an application for a position, the candidate s CV is examined and assessed for suitability in terms of our specifications. Assessment of applicant s compliance with application requirements will also include: Stage 3: Evidence of eligibility to work in the UK References Completion of Disclosure Scotland application Interview with applicant. Every new local interpreter and translator is interviewed personally. o The aim of the interview/meeting is to assess the applicant s language skills. o To assess the applicant s awareness of the cultural demands of the language services provision. o To introduce the applicant to our code of ethics/practice at an early stage. A copy of applicant s professional certification in translation or interpreting is required (if applicable). Evidence of previous interpreting/translation work history and professional references are requested and taken up before registration. A copy of passport and/or work permit is taken upon registration from the original document, a photograph and National Insurance Number, where applicable, in order to ensure the applicant can legally work in the UK. Two references. Normally this will include at least one professional reference. For translators, samples of previous work are requested before registration in order to assess the applicant s work quality. A test translation may be required from new translators in order to assess language skills and translation techniques. All new linguists have to sign the code of ethics/practice (enclosed as Annex D), which includes a Statement of Confidentiality. Global Language Services is approved as a registered body with Disclosure Scotland (see relevant heading below). Inclusion in our Induction Programme for new interpreters. Stage 4: Monitoring of Service Quality. This is an essential part of our service provision in which we monitor the performance of our linguists and, in particular, newly registered linguists. This is achieved by: Issuing of a Service Quality Questionnaire to our clients. Verbal monitoring with client. Discussion with interpreter/translator to determine whether there were any difficulties, problems or issues which should be included in upcoming training sessions. Contact is made with the associate and the customer following the first appointment

82 Disclosure Scotland: Global Language Services is approved as a registered body with Disclosure Scotland. All interpreters are required to apply for an Enhanced Disclosure Certificate prior to undertaking an initial appointment and updated on a 3 year tem. As far as is practical and realistic, similar clearance is required regarding periods of overseas residency. In some instances this might not be able to be obtained, especially in instances where individuals might have refugee status in the UK. Identity (photocopy of individual s Passport or ID document is kept in file) Employment History for at least previous 3 years Nationality and Immigration Status & Permission to work in the UK (Copy of Visa or Home Office letter granting leave to stay / permission to work in the UK) Criminal Records Declaration Enhanced Disclosure Scotland check National Insurance Number (if available) Education History & Copies of relevant qualifications At least 2 references

83 3.2 The Contractor must provide a secure and confidential translation and transcribing facility. Tenderers should detail the safeguards and measures proposed to deal with materials carrying a security or confidential classification and otherwise sensitive documents, including but not limited to IT security procedures. All our internal and translators/transcribers are required to obtain a Disclosure Scotland certificate. All our freelance linguists are required to sign a Code of Practice / Ethics which includes a Statement of Confidentiality (Annex D) Our admin staff are trained in data protection issues and are required to sign a Code of Confidentiality (enclosed as Annex C). If appropriate, we usually request that copies, rather than original documents or tapes be forwarded to our offices. We usually use an in-house reliable and trustworthy courier service vetted by Disclosure Scotland and who has signed a Statement of Confidentiality. Information is only disseminated within the company on a need-to-know basis. Documents, if required, are kept in a lock-safe room and shredded after a certain period of time after completion. Office keys are only kept by the most senior managers and all external office doors have 2 locks. IT security systems/procedures We have an server which is hosted remotely. We also have an in-house file server which holds our distribution software. The local server downloads all messages from the remote server and then automatically distributes them to the appropriate person/department. Should there be technical problems with the local server, the senior managers have passwords to gain access to the remote server, so that work is not disrupted. In such situations, passwords are passed on to the necessary staff and then changed after systems are back to normal. All our computers are protected by firewalls which are regularly updated All computer terminals are password protected and are set to automatically switch themselves off after a short period of inactivity, in order to ensure that there are no security compromises due, for example, to a member of staff leaving a terminal on overnight or during a lunch break. Server data is backed up on a daily basis to an encrypted separate hard drive.

84 3.3 Tenderers must outline the methods that their organisation would employ to meet the required timelines and handle urgent requests for Interpreting Translation and Transcription services. Please refer to section 7 of the Specification. (Max ½ page A4) As previously mentioned, the company aims to always meet customer requirements in every aspect of its service provision. In order to achieve this, we: Have recruited a professional administrative and management team, in addition to a vast team of linguists, which allows us to be flexible in our provision. We already undertake a large number of urgent assignments, which means many of our linguists are used and available for work of that nature. Have a 24/7 booking line Have a database where all translation and transcription requests are detailed, which contains, amongst other things, the date of receipt of request, status (received, quoted, under way, delivered, invoiced), deadline and other relevant information. This is used by Project Managers to monitor ongoing projects in order to ensure they are given the necessary attention and are delivered on time to the customer. We inform the Translator/Transcriber/Proofreader of the deadline and urgency at the time of assignment of the project Maintain contact with the linguist(s) undertaking the assignment in order to ensure the job is delivered on time. Immediately inform the client in rare instances where deadlines may not be met, explain reasons and discuss alternatives.

85 3.4 Tenderers must demonstrate that their organisation has effective and robust diversity and equality policies in place and how these are implemented in practice. Provide one copy of the organisation s Equal Opportunities policy statement and arrangements that are in place to ensure compliance with current UK Equal Opportunities legislation. This should cover, but not be limited to, the Disability Discrimination Act 2005, Race Relations Amendments Act 2006 and Equality Act Global Language Services Ltd has an Equal Opportunities Policy which is attached as Annex F and a Racial Equality Policy which is attached as Annex H. Both these policies underline the fact that Global Language Services Ltd or its representatives do not discriminate on any grounds and that its policies are compliant with the following acts: the Disability Discrimination Acts 1995 and 2005; the Race Relations Act 1976 and the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000; the Sex Discrimination Acts of 1975 and 1986; the Employment Equality (Religion and Belief) Regulations 2003; the Employment Equality (Sexual Orientation) Regulation 2003; the Employment Equality (Age) Regulations 2006; Equal Pay Act 1970; Human Rights Act 1998; Employment Equality (Sexual Discrimination) Regulations 2005; Racial and Religious Hatred Act 2006; Equality Act 2006; Equality Act (Sexual Orientation) Regulations 2007; and Equality Act (Gender Equality Duty) 2007 Global Language Services Ltd operates a zero tolerance policy in this area in order to provide language services in a manner that prevents and prohibits unlawful discrimination, harassment and victimisation challenges existing discrimination and promotes positive attitudes promotes equality of opportunities encourages participation by people from equality groups Global Language Services Ltd recognises the need for the Collaborative Partners to monitor the services and will assist, insofar as is possible, in working to provide information to the partner organisations on the employment of and service provision to equalities groups. At present, our training programme for all internal staff incorporates the above areas. Cultural Awareness: Global Language Services Ltd staff receives training in cultural awareness. Given our experience of working with many migrant groups in Scotland, we are aware of a range of issues relating to the provision of interpreting services for such communities and cultures. We use our experience, as well as our Associates experience in order to pre-empt cultural or political issues which might become an obstacle to the provision of interpreting services and bring these to the attention of the service provider. Most commonly, for example, we are aware that within certain communities (or for appointments of a certain nature) it is extremely important that the interpreter should be of the same sex as the client. We are also aware that sometimes there can be religious implications in the provision of interpreting services, especially in relation to certain communities.

86 As part of our dedication to customer service, we put the customer s needs at the forefront of our priorities in our service provision. As such, should there be instances where a client and/or interpreter are in conflict due to personal, political or other reasons, Global Language Services Ltd will conduct every effort in ensuring a different suitable interpreter is identified.

87 3.5 Tenderers must provide one copy of the organisation s Health & Safety policy statement and arrangements that are in place to ensure compliance with UK Health & Safety legislation, in particular the Health & Safety at Work Act 1974 and The Management of Health & Safety at Work Regulations NOTE: If a Tender is submitted from consortia and/or involves sub-contractors, one policy only will be required and all consortia members/subcontractors will be required to adhere to the single policy Enclosed as Annex E 3.6 The Authority expects suppliers to fully comply with their obligations in respect of relevant legislation and other regulatory requirements applicable to the type of Goods, Services or Works being provided. Whilst specific legislation such as the Race Relations Amendment Act, the various Employment Equality Regulations, Health & Safety, COSHH or environmental regulations, etc may be specifically mentioned in this ITT you should provide a response to the following question in terms of compliance with all legislation and regulatory requirements: a) In the last three years, has your organisation been subject to any formal investigation, or has any finding been made against your organisation by any court or tribunal or in comparable proceeding in any other jurisdiction in respect of an alleged or actual breach of legislation? Your response should highlight any known pending infraction cases. No. b) If the answer is yes, what steps have you taken as a result of that finding? N/A.

88 3.7 Tenderers must indicate the steps their organisation has undertaken, or take, to ensure the observance of legislative and statutory provisions by their employees and any subcontractors proposed by them for the performance of any services resulting from this tender. Any supplier or organisation which has been the subject of an adverse ruling, or is suspected of having failed to meet its legal obligations, may be excluded from future competition or bidding for contracts until such time as they can demonstrate that appropriate remedial action has been taken The company has sub-contracted the main areas of Employee Management to Peninsula Business Services Ltd. who are specialist providers in this area. As a result the company is notified of developments in the above areas. An Employee Handbook is made available for our Administrative staff in each of our offices and staff are advised of their rights and responsibilities in the above areas. Staff are required to countersign to confirm their understanding of these issues. At initial registration each new interpreter is required to countersign this company s Code of Ethics and Code of Practice document... The content of this document will be discussed during this registration period and the following paragraphs will normally be highlighted. Para 3 not discriminate against parties, either directly or indirectly, on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic origin, age, nationality, religion, gender, sexuality or disability. Para 9.not engage in any behaviour likely to discredit the Company and such behaviour will include, inter alia, impairment through drugs or alcohol, sexual misconduct, violence, intimidation, abusive or discourteous behaviour. Additionally issues relating to Health and Safety are discussed with emphasis given to disclosure of personal information to third parties, visiting clients at home or at a similar address. These and similar topics are discussed at the follow-up Induction programme and legislative and statutory provisions, where appropriate, will be incorporated in other training programmes, e.g. Interpreting for Police, Interpreting for Courts, DPSI, Where a need for any additional emphasis appears then this will be included within the bimonthly Newsletter issued to all staff. This will be then incorporated into the Associate Hand Book Each Sub-contractor will be required to accept that as part of the conditions of any contract that compliance with the relevant legislative and statutory provisions is essential and failure to do so may result in termination of that contract.

89 4. COMMERCIAL, TERMS AND CONDITIONS, SERVICE CREDIT MECHANISM, COMPETITIVE EDGE AND ADDED VALUE 4.1Tenderers must confirm that they hold the necessary Employer s Liability, Public Liability and Professional Indemnity insurance as outlined in the Terms & Conditions. Copies of the relevant documentation must be provided. We confirm we have the required levels of insurance as outlined in the Terms and Conditions (attached as Annex L). Should these not be deemed as satisfactory, we would be available to upgrade them as required. Level of cover held: Employer s Liability Insurance Public Liability Insurance Professional Liability Insurance

90 4.2 Any contract resulting from this procurement will be subject to the Terms and Conditions of Contract (Schedule A). Tenderers must confirm that, if their proposal is shortlisted after evaluation, they agree to contract with the Authority on these conditions. The Authority reserves the right to reject a tender without further consideration where Tenderers have not indicated compliance. We confirm that we are satisfied with the Terms and Conditions of Contract (Schedule A) and that we contract with the Authority on those terms

91 4.3 Tenderers must provide comprehensive detail on how their organisation will contribute to the creation of improved cost savings and value for money across the Scottish central government sector. Global Language Services Ltd hopes to continue to deliver economies of scale to its customers and indeed extend this provision as the company grows. Our continued growth throughout the years has allowed us to continuously enhance our service provision by passing on these economies to our customers, by absorbing the costs of a range of activities. Some of these are as follows: Restrictions on length of travel time. The fact that we have the widest network of regional offices in Scotland (Glasgow, Edinburgh, Aberdeen and Inverness) allows us to provide an enhanced local provision of interpreters and, therefore, reduce associated travel time and expenses costs. Maintain our network of local offices and indeed extend it to new areas. Continue and increase efforts to recruit and train more interpreters all over Scotland so as to continue to enhance our local service provision, whilst absorbing the cost of this activity. Maintain and expand training programmes so as to enhance service provision, generating an increasingly more professional workforce thus providing better value for money. o Local DPSI courses in Glasgow, Edinburgh, Inverness and possibly Aberdeen o Distance Learning DPSI courses o Planning Pre-DPSI qualification with recognition from CILT (National Centre for Languages) o Specialised short training programmes and workshops Invest resources into the investigation and creation of new professional qualifications by liaising with relevant organisations, such as CILT (National Centre for Languages) Invest resources in the creating of Standardised Support Materials for professional linguists and trainee linguists, whilst liaising with the relevant organisations Chartered Institute of Linguists and Institute of Translation and Interpreting. Creation of templates for most common translation requests and passing on this economy to the customer. Restrictions on use of taxis and personal cars for long distance journeys. No short notice or urgency fees either for interpreting or translation Move towards e-procurement linked to our booking system Streamlined invoicing procedures consolidated invoicing and electronic payment methods should create admin cost economies from the customer s point of view. Continue to collaborate in the research into provision of languages in the public sector.

92 4.4 a.) Tenderers must provide proposals on service credits, against the service levels at Schedule B Annex 7. b.) In addition tenders must detail the number of qualified interpreters (DPSI - legal) you will provide for years 1 to 3 of the contract period. Note: This figure should increase year on year. Schedule B Annex 7, numbers 5 to 7 refer. SER NO. ACTIVITY DESCRIPTION SERVICE LEVEL TARGET SERVICE CREDIT 1 INTERPRETING Service Quality Interpreting should be carried out see 1 below professionally and 100% accurately. 2 Attendance The Interpreter must arrive at Court on the time specified in the see 2 below Purchase Order Form. 100% 3 Attendance The Interpreter must attend each and every assignment. 100% 4 Attendance The Interpreter must remain for the duration of the assignment. 100% 5 Qualifications % of DPSI qualified Interpreters (Year 1) see 3 below see 4 below 164 see 5 below 6 % of DPSI qualified Interpreters (Year 2) 7 % of DPSI qualified Interpreters (Year 3) 207 see 6 below 250 see 7 below 8 TRANSLATION AND TRANSCRIPTION Service Quality (Court related Documents, e.g. Police Interviews, Medical documents) 9 Service quality (Non Court related Documents, e.g. letters to victims) 10 Administration The Contractor must ensure all translations and transcriptions meet the agreed format and specification, are error free and comply with agreed Purchase Order Form. All translations and transcriptions meet the agreed format and specification, are error free and comply with agreed Purchase Order Form Invoices received in an accurate and timely manner; management information and Service Level information provided on a monthly basis. 100% 98% 98% see 8 below see 9 below see 10 below

93 1 Agreed. No invoice will be submitted if it is proved that the interpreter was negligent in his duties. 2 Agreed. Subject to the occurrence of force majeure or circumstances out with our control, for example, major accident on the motorway. Depending on delay, all efforts will be made to recruit another interpreter should this happen. 3 Agreed. Subject to the occurrence of force majeure or circumstances out with our control, for example, being involved in an incapacitating accident. All efforts will be made to recruit a replacement interpreter should this happen. In instances where this may not be possible no invoice will be submitted. 4 Agreed. Subject to the occurrence of force majeure or circumstances out with our control, for example, the interpreter or a close relative being suddenly taken ill. All efforts will be made to recruit a replacement interpreter should this happen. In instances where this may not be possible no invoice will be submitted. 5 It is not practical to provide this figure as a percentage, as the more recruitment of interpreters in remote areas takes, the smaller this percentage would be, thus providing a misleading method of measurement. Instead, for clarity, we have chosen to show this as the real number of DPSI qualified interpreters. The calculations are based upon current levels of students and estimated pass rates. This figure is for DPSI only and does not include relevant equivalent qualifications. 6 See point 5 7 See point 5 8 We agree that all translations should meet the required format, specification and other requirements on the order form. However, should errors be identified the nature of the error must be clarified and justified. We agree with the service level in instances of critical errors. In these instances rectification will take place and, depending on the circumstances, the invoice may be modified or voided. 9 Same criteria from point 8 would apply. 10 Agreed, subject to the different requirements of the different collaborative partners. If and in the unlikely event there are shortcomings in this area, steps will be taken to correct this.

94 4.5 Tenderers must complete and return the, Compliance to Specification check list held at Annex C to Schedule 2. Enclosed as Annex M. End of Schedule 2

95 CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PROVISION OF INTERPRETING, TRANSLATION AND TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES SCHEDULE 3 FORM OF TENDER REFERENCE CASE

96 Schedule 3 FORM OF TENDER Please sign below to acknowledge formal acceptance of the Terms and Conditions of Contract specified in this Invitation to Tender Ref.: CASE We, the undersigned, having considered the documents listed below and subject to and upon the Terms and Conditions of Contract contained in the said documents, offer the provision of the Services at the prices entered in the Tender. 1. The Invitation to Tender Letter 2. Schedule 1 Instructions to Tenderers 3. Schedule 2 Tenderer s Submission Requirements 4. Schedule 3 Form of Tender 5. Schedule 4 List of proposed subcontractors 6. Schedule A Terms and Conditions of Contract 7. Schedule B Specification 8. Schedule C Pricing Document Our Tender includes the above list of items and the following: ( Tenderer to complete as appropriate) The Authority is not bound to accept this or any Tender for this project, however, any Contract that may result from this Tender will be subject to Scots Law and the Tenderer hereby irrevocably submits to the jurisdiction of the Scottish Courts. This Tender remains open for consideration for 6 MONTHS from the date fixed for receiving Tenders. We understand that the lowest priced Tender will not necessarily be accepted. By submitting a Tender, we acknowledge that our Tender is a bona fide Tender, intended to be competitive, and that we have not fixed or adjusted the amount of the Tender by or under or in accordance with any agreement or arrangement with any other person. Dated this 18 th day of May 2009 Signature Designation: Managing Director Name: (BLOCK CAPITALS) Duly authorised to sign Tenders for and on behalf of: Name of Tenderer Address Global Language Services Ltd. Craig House, 64 Darnley Street, Glasgow, G41 2SE Telephone No (INCLUDE AREA CODE) It must be clearly shown whether the Tenderer is a limited liability company, statutory corporation, partnership, or single individual trading under his own name. Tenders received after the above time and date will not normally be considered. Name of Contact for this Tender Position Mr. Managing Director Tel No: Fax No. End of Schedule 3

97 CENTRAL GOVERNMENT PROVISION OF INTERPRETING, TRANSLATION AND TRANSCRIPTION SERVICES SCHEDULE 4 LIST OF PROPOSED SUB-CONTRACTORS REFERENCE CASE

98 Restricted Contracts Ref: April 2009 Schedule 4 List of proposed sub-contractors The following is a list of the names and addresses of all sub-contractors whom the Tenderer proposes to use in the direct provision of the Services. Service Provided Name & Address English to English transcription, large print & Braille B) End of Schedule 4 Sch C-1

99 Schedule C - Prlcina Schedule Part 1 - Interpretina Services Global Language Services Ltd. Prices for Interpreting any language into English:, : II : II Type of Interpreting Face to Face u. to 5 da s Face to Face (in excess of 5 days, ie -6 d s.ius Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 13 Ju12009 to 13 Jul 2010 to 13 Jul2011 to 12 Jul Jul Jul 2012 Fixed Price Per Fixed Price Fixed Price Hour Per Hour Per Hour (Ex VAT) (Ex VAT) (Ex VAT) ---~~ ~~~~~ ~E::I~ 3 4 Wi- ~~ =- 1. All prices quoted shall be a fixed hourly rate and are fully inclusive of all costs, overheads and profit associated with the provision of the services. 2. Prices shall be exclusive of VAT. 3. Any price variations for the Option Year 4 will be subject to agreement with the Authority. Prices may increase or decrease (through improved efficiencies or deflation, etc). Any increases in prices shall not exceed the percentage change in the Office of National Statistics' Consumer Prices Index (CPI) (or another such index specified in the Product Listing) between the Commencement Date and the first Price Review Date or between the preceding Price Review Date and the applicable Price Review Date (as appropriate). 4. The Contractor must provide an interpreter from within a 70 mile radius of the place of assignment, unless prior written approval is obtained from the Collaborative Partner. If the Collaborative Partner agrees, then additional and relevant travel and subsistence costs may be claimed in accordance with Annex 1 to this schedule. All hourly rates quoted should therefore include all travel expenses up to the first 70 miles. 5. The Contractor should note that prior written approval may be given in the Purchase Order Form where the assignment is in a particular rural location. 6. Where the Contractor has received an urgent request for services by telephone in accordance with clause or of Schedule B, approval for any travel in excess of the 60 mile radius is automatically given if required. 7. Fees will not be paid until the interpreter has filled in the Collaborative Partner's monitoring/attendance form and the Collaborative Partner is satisified that the services have been carried out to their satisfaction.

100

101 Schedule C - Pricing Schedule Part 2 - Translation Services... G_lo_b_a_1 L_a_n... 9 u_a9.... e_s_. e_m ce_s_lt_d_. _ Translation Types Information onl For Publicationrr echnical/marketin Proof Readin _ummu ~ ifill 01 Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 13 July 2009 to 13 July 2010 to 13 July 2011 to 12July July July2012 per 1,000 words per 1,000 words per 1,000 words -~~~ (Ex VAT) (Ex VAT) (Ex VAT) ~-~.. _~~--_.-,'~~~ 1. The Price listed is for 1,000 translation words. The price will be applied pro rata against the translated document word count. 2. The price per language covers translation into and out of English. 3. All prices quoted shall be a fixed price and are fully inclusive of all costs, overheads and profit associated with the provision of the services. 4. Prices shall be exclusive of VAT. 3. Any price variations for the Option Year 4 will be subject to agreement with the Authority. Prices may increase or decrease (through improved efficiencies or deflation, etc). Any increases in prices shall not exceed the percentage change in the Office of National Statistics' Consumer Prices Index (CPI) (or another such index specified in the Product Listing) between the Commencement Date and the first Price Review Date or between the preceding Price Review Date and the applicable Price Review Date (as appropriate).

102 Schedule C - Priclna Schedule Part 3 - TranscrlDtlon Services Global Language Services Ltd. Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 13 Jul 2009 to 13 Jul 2010 to 13 Jul 2011 to 12Jul Jul Jul2012 Transcription Types (Ex VAT) (Ex VAT) (Ex VAT) rice er CD (to include P&P) nfa n1a nfa ~ to include P&P ~ 4a-.a =-: -- ~ ~~~ Notes 1. All prices quoted shall be fixed price and are fully inclusive of all costs, overheads and profit associated with the provision of the services. 2. Prices shall be exclusive of VAT. 3. Any price variations for the Option Year 4 will be subject to agreement with the Authority. Prices may increase or decrease (through improved efficiencies or deflation,etc). Any increases in prices shall not exceed the percentage change in the Office of National Statistics' Consumer Prices Index (CPI) (or another such index specified in the Product Listing) between the Commencement Date and the first Price Review Date or between the preceding Price Review Date and the applicable Price Review Date (as appropriate).

103 Schedule C - Pricing Schedule Part 4 - Ancillary Services _Iobal LanguageServk:es Ud Braille or other tactile or touch formats 13 Fixed Price er 1,000 words Front Page Colour 14 Fixed Price r a e Logo on Braille 15 Fixed Price er 10 0 Binding Fixed Price :... Notes 1. All prices quoted shall be fixed price and are fully inclusive of all costs. overheads and profit associated with the provision of the services. 2. Prices shall be exclusive of VAT. 3. Any price variations for the Option Year 4 will be subject to agreement with the Authority. Prices may increase or decrease (through improved efficiencies or deflation, etc). Any increases in prices shall not exceed the percentage change in the Office of National Statistics' Consumer Prices Index (CPI) (or another such index specified in the Product Listing) between the Commencement Date and the first Price Review Date or between the preceding Price Review Date and the applicable Price Review Date (as appropriate).

104 SCHEDULE C - ANNEX 1 TRAVEL AND SUBSISTENCE - TRAVEL~. 1. Once it has been established that a journey to fulfil an assignment is unavoidable and exceeds 70 miles, prior to the journey being undertaken, in discussion if necessary with the Collaborative Partner, interpreters must ensure that the most effective method of travel is selected from the following: 1.1 public transport 1.2 private owned motor vehicle; and savings in time. Interpreters must consider the range of fare options available. This should include special fare promotions, day returns, saver and season tickets and any other fares offers where their use does not impair the efficiency of the journey being undertaken. If these criteria are not observed and there is no evidence of this on receipt of the invoice, the Collaborative Partner will question claims before payment is made. 3. A mileage allowance of 40p per mile is payable (only over 70 miles) when interpreters use their private motor vehicle for travel to assignment on the agreement of a collaborative partner. The use of private motor vehicles however should only occur when it is established that public transport is either not available or practicable and should be pre authorised by the Collaborative Partner. 4. Where public transport (2nd Class) is used and the journey is over 70 miles, claims for the full amount of any public transport costs will be paid, however, these must be supported by an original receipt attached to the invoice. If you do not attach an original receipt, your claim will not be reimbursed unless you can provide in writing a satisfactory explanation. For the avoidance of doubt, public transport costs will not be paid for those journeys less than 70 miles. 5. It is the responsibility of the interpreter to ensure that the use of their vehicle for an assignment meets statutory insurance requirements of the agency in Scotland, the home of the interpreter, or head office of the Collaborative Partner e.g. Crown Office in Edinburgh, whichever is closest to the place of assignment. The shortest practicable route should be taken. 7. Only in exceptional circumstances will travel by air be sanctioned and will be restricted to the cost of travel within Scotland (e.g. from Edinburgh to Kirkwall) TRAVEL TIME 8. This section sets out the rules that apply to the calculation and payment of time spent on travelling to or from an assignment. It is referred to throughout this section as 'travelling time'. 9. Travelling time will only be applicable in addition to the hourly rate in the following three circumstances: 9.1 Where travel to and from the assignment exceeds 90 minutes each way. 9.2 Where an overnight stay is required to fulfil the assignment, either prior to the assignment, or after conclusion of the assignment, travelling time on the day of travel can be claimed to reflect the non availability of the interpreter to undertake other work. 9.3 Where to fulfil an assignment, an interpreter is required to travel outwith normal business hours of 8am to 6pm. 10. Payment for travelling time in these instances will be made at 50% of the hourly rate for the assignment, and will be for the actual time spent travelling. For the purposes of this section, the point of origin of the journey will be the place of business of the Contractor, or the home of the interpreter, whichever is closest to the place of assignment. 11. Travel Time claims must be supported by the monitoring I attendance form and attached to the invoice. Sch C, Annex 1-5

105 SCHEDULE C - ANNEX 1 TRAVEL AND SUBSISTENCE SUBSISTENCE 12. The 24-hour subsistence allowance covers a period of up to 24 hours and where the assignment is at least 90 minutes travelling distance from the interpreter's home. This is only applicable where expenditure on overnight accommodation is incurred. 13. An overnight stay will not normally be permitted unless there are sound operational requirements and where the level of travelling required would be considered unreasonable - this would need to take into account a number of factors such as the length of time required to travel, the time the assignment is scheduled to commence and finish, and the availability and frequency of transportation for the interpreter hour subsistence comprises the receipted cost of bed, breakfast and dinner, up to a capped limit. Bed, breakfast and dinner costs must be supported by an original receipt attached to the invoice. If you do not attach an original receipt your invoice will not be reimbursed unless you can provide in writing a satisfactory explanation. The current, capped limit is 80 for bed and breakfast and for meals. 15. Exceptionally, interpreters may be able to claim for reimbursement of bed and breakfast costs above the capped limit above, but only if pre authorised by the Collaborative Partner. The interpreter involved must have made reasonable efforts to find suitable accommodation at the place of assignment within the limits. This includes having attempted to secure accommodation using the services of the departmental Hotel booking agent through the Collaborative Partner requisitioning the assignment and demonstrating that any increased costs beyond the current subsistence levels were necessary and were not incurred out of personal preference. A written note from the interpreter explaining why increased costs above current limits were incurred must in all cases be attached to any invoice. If a satisfactory explanation is not attached to the invoice it will be restricted to the current 24-hour bed and breakfast subsistence limit. End of Annex 1 to Schedule C Sch C, Annex 1-6

106

107 Annex B Continuing Professional development Record Name: Please use this document to enter your objectives for the year, record details of relevant events and/or courses you attend, and note some brief comments evaluating your progress. Some of the CPD activity you can undertake includes, but is not restricted to: Attending language workshops, courses, conferences, seminars and lectures Reading foreign language newspapers, periodicals and literature Reading relevant professional publications Making overseas visits Listening to relevant foreign language radio and/or TV programmes Reading publications related to professional specialism (e.g. Law, Health, business or chosen specialist subject area for interpreters and translators) Learning to use new software packages (through self-study or attending training courses) Developing administrative/office management skills (through self-study or attending training courses) Your Personal Development Plan (to be completed at the start of the year) Please enter your objectives for the current year, and include a date on which you intend to review your progress towards meeting each objective Objective/Action Review Date: Objective/Action Review Date: Objective/Action Review Date: Objective/Action Review Date: Evaluation of CPD taken: (to be completed at the end of the year) Please write below a balance of new skills acquired, progress made towards achieving future objectives, and activities undertaken in order to maintain current skills.

108 Record of Relevant Events / Training Courses Title of event/training course Date: Duration: Provider: Assessment: Title of event/training course Date: Duration: Provider: Assessment: Title of event/training course Date: Duration: Provider: Assessment: Title of event/training course Date: Duration: Provider: Assessment: Title of event/training course Date: Duration: Provider: Assessment: Title of event/training course Date: Duration: Provider: Title of event/training course Date: Duration: Provider: Assessment: (You may continue on a separate sheet if necessary)

109 Annex C GLOBAL LANGUAGE SERVICES LTD. Tel/Fax: [email protected] Craig House Darnley Street Glasgow G41 2SE STATEMENT OF CONFIDENTIALITY NAME. Address.. I, the above named employee of Global Language Services Limited, confirm that when undertaking, or after completion of, any task or duty on behalf of the Company I accept and will abide by the rules of Confidentiality set by Global Language Services Ltd. In particular, I agree To maintain the confidentiality of all the clients concerned Not to divulge or disclose any information to any third party Not to identify or refer to any topic, issue or information gained through the carrying out of my activities or duties in the presence of a third party. Signature Date

110 Annex D Code of Ethics Interpreters will: 1. maintain confidentiality at all times and treat any information which may be disclosed during any appointment as privileged information which may not be communicated to any third party without the necessary authority. 2. act in an impartial and professional manner and shall be seen to do so. You are required to inform the Company immediately of any interest on your part which might harm this impartiality. 3. not discriminate against parties, either directly or indirectly, on the grounds of race, colour, ethnic origin, age, nationality, religion, gender, sexuality or disability. 4. disclose any information, including any criminal record, which may make you unsuitable in any particular case. You will be required to submit an application for an Enhanced Certificate of Disclosure Scotland as part of the application procedure for this Company. 5. disclose immediately to the Company if the person for whom you are interpreting or their immediate family is known or related to you. 6. disclose immediately to the Company if you have any business, financial, family or other interests you may have in any particular appointment. 7. not accept any form of reward, whether in cash or otherwise, for allocated language work other than the fees agreed by the Company. 8. not subcontract or delegate any work allocated by the Company without the Company s agreement. 9. not engage in any behaviour likely to discredit the Company and such behaviour will include, inter alia, impairment through drugs or alcohol, sexual misconduct, violence, intimidation, abusive or discourteous behaviour. 10. not make any direct contact with any Client of this Company to whom he/she has been allocated an appointment without the Company and the Client s express agreement. Code of Practice Professional Issues: Interpreters will: 1. interpret truly and faithfully what is said, without any words or meaning being added, omitted or amended. An additional explanation will only be provided where a cultural misunderstanding may occur or where there is no direct equivalent for a particular term. Both of the other parties must be advised where such additional explanations are sought and/or provided. 2. disclose any difficulties encountered with dialects or specialist terms. 3. not give advice, legal or otherwise, enter into discussions or express opinions or reactions to any of the parties. Any discussion prior to the interpreting appointment

111 should be restricted to ensuring a dialect match is completed and not extended beyond this. 4. intervene only: to ask for clarification to point out that a party may not have understood some word or term to advise the parties to a particular cultural reference to advise that there is no equivalent term/word in the language concerned to the term being used. 5. be reliable and punctual at all times. Normally the Company expects its Associates to be available at the place of interpreting at least 10 minutes prior to the time for the scheduled appointment. Procedural Issues Interpreters will: 1. only accept an appointment if there is evidently sufficient time to arrive for the scheduled commencement time and also that you would not require, in normal circumstances, to terminate an appointment before its completion. 2. in terms of courtesy, manner and appearance demonstrate a professional standard acceptable to all parties. 3. complete and return timeously the appropriate records relating to each appointment. With reference to Job/Time Sheets you will be expected to ensure: all entries are fully completed sign the appropriate section a representative of the Client has completed and signed the relevant section. 4. follow the appropriate procedures set by Global Language Services Ltd referring to non-appearance of customers, lateness for appointments and repeat appointments. 5. receive Payments either by cheque or BACS, for all interpreting fees, travel time, waiting time and travel expenses, as defined by the Company, at the agreed rates at the end of each month for all appointments completed up to and including the 14 th of that month, where time sheets are returned to the appropriate office by no later than the 17 th of that month where conditions pertaining to receipts/tickets and claims for travel expenses and the restrictions on the use of taxis are followed. 6. be governed by the Company s Complaints and Appeals Procedures and Disciplinary Procedure. 7. participate, as far as it is reasonably practical, in relevant training programmes offered by the Company as part of the overall programme of Continuing Professional Development. Signed Name Date.. Signed Global Language Services Ltd.

112 Annex E Health And Safety Policy 1. General statement of Intent Global Language Services Ltd is committed to ensuring appropriate standards of health and safety to all actors internal and external- on whom the company s services impinge in accordance with the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974 and all applicable regulations made under the Act, so far as reasonably practicable. Global Language Services Ltd recognises that health and safety are management responsibilities ranking equally with responsibilities to all other business activities. Global Language Services Ltd. recognises that everything reasonably practicable should be done to prevent personal injury in the operation of any of the office equipment and to maintain a safe and healthy place of work. Global Language Services Ltd recognises that it is the duty of all employees to act responsibly and to act in such a manner as to prevent injury to themselves and fellow workers. 2. Organisation The Managing Director of the company has overall responsibility for compliance with the statutory health and safety requirements and to the development of appropriate and accepted standards which may exceed that legislation. Included within the job descriptions of each member of staff is a responsibility for the maintenance of appropriate standards of health and safety. At an appropriate time and/or situation Global Language Services Ltd will establish arrangements for employee representation on safety matters but in the meantime health and safety issues will be considered as direct consultation at regular staff meetings. 3. Arrangements Global Language Services Ltd. will continue to provide specific instructions for using machines and computer equipment within our office. Global Language Services Ltd will develop training programmes of health and safety for all employees and regularly repeat these programmes. Global Language Services Ltd will provide first-aid and emergency procedures, including those related to aspects of fire-safety and prevention. Any employee found in breach of any aspect of the above policy will be subject to the company s disciplinary procedure. Global Language Services ltd guarantees to develop, review and revise the above policies as often as may be appropriate and to establish records which will enable them so to do. Revised January 2007

113 ANNEX F Equal Opportunities Employment Policy Statement of policy This company aims to be an equal opportunity employer, and has a policy for this purpose. This policy covers all aspects of employment, from vacancy advertising, selection recruitment and training to conditions of service and reasons for termination of employment. To ensure that this policy is operating effectively (and for no other purpose) the company maintains records of employees' and applicants' racial origins, gender and disability. Ongoing monitoring and regular analysis of such records provide the basis for appropriate action to eliminate unlawful direct and indirect discrimination and promote equality of opportunity. The company's long term aim is that the composition of our workforce should reflect that of the community for language services. Where necessary, special steps, as permitted by the relevant Acts of Parliament, will be taken to help disadvantaged and/or underrepresented groups to compete for jobs on a genuine basis of equality. The company's EOEP, and the measures to implement it, have been devised on the basis of advice from the relevant bodies. The managing director is responsible for the effective operation of the company's EOEP. A copy of the EOEP is available from the managing director. The policy Vacancy advertising Wherever possible, all vacancies will be advertised simultaneously internally and externally. Steps will be taken to ensure that knowledge of vacancies reaches underrepresented groups internally and externally. Wherever possible, vacancies will be notified to job centres, careers offices, schools, colleges, polytechnics, etc, with significant minority group rolls, as well as to minority press/media and organisations. All vacancy advertisements will include an appropriate short statement on equal opportunity. Selection and recruitment

114 Selection criteria (job description and employee specification) will be kept under constant review to ensure that they are justifiable on non-discriminatory grounds as being essential for the effective performance of the job. Wherever possible, more than one person must be involved in the selection interview and recruitment process, and all should have received training in equal opportunities. Wherever possible, women, minorities and disabled persons will be involved in the shortlisting and interviewing processes. Reasons for selection and rejection of applicants for vacancies must be recorded. Positive action - training, promotion and conditions of service Wherever possible, efforts will be made to identify and remove unnecessary/unjustifiable barriers and provide appropriate facilities and conditions of service to meet the special needs of disadvantaged and/or underrepresented groups. Personnel records In order to ensure the effective operation of the equal opportunity policy (and for no other purpose) a record will be kept of all employees' and job applicants' gender, racial origins and disability. Where necessary, employees will be able to check their own record of these details. Otherwise, access to this information will be strictly restricted. Such records will be analysed regularly, and appropriate follow-up action taken. General The objectives of this EOEP are to: Ensure that the company/etc has access to the widest labour market and secures the best employees for its needs. Ensure that no applicant or employee receives less favourable treatment, and that, wherever possible, they are given the help they need to attain their full potential to the benefit of the company/etc and themselves. Achieve an ability-based workforce which is in line with the working population mix in the relevant labour market areas. The cooperation of all employees is essential for the success of this policy. However, ultimate responsibility for achieving the policy's objectives, and for ensuring compliance with the relevant Acts of Parliament as well as the various Codes of Practice, lies with the company. Behaviour or actions against the spirit and/or the letter of the laws on which this policy is based will be considered serious disciplinary matters, and may, in some cases, lead to dismissal.

115 Annex G Data Protection Policy The 1998 Data Protection Act (DPA) came into force on 1 March It supersedes and extends the provisions of the Data Protection Act The new Act implements a European Directive of 1995 and has two aims: to protect individuals fundamental rights and freedoms, notably privacy rights, in respect of the processing of personal data to enable organisations to process personal information in the course of their legitimate business Due to the nature of its business activities, Global Language Services Ltd needs to collect and process information and personal data both for its associates and, on occasion, for end users accessing services through our clients. This is an inherent necessity of our business activity in order to ensure we can provide our services in a professional and efficient manner, to our customer s satisfaction. We believe that it is of paramount importance that personal data should be treated in a lawful and correct manner. Any personal data collected, recorded or being used and whether held on paper, on computer or other media will be subject to appropriate safeguards so as to ensure it is compliant with the Data Protection Act 1998 ("Act"). We fully endorse and adhere to the eight principles of Data Protection as set out in the Act. These principles state that personal data must be:- 1. fairly and lawfully processed 2. processed for specified and lawful purposes and not in any other way which would be incompatible with those purposes 3. adequate, relevant and not excessive 4. accurate and kept up to date 5. not kept for longer than is necessary 6. processed in line with the data subject's rights 7. kept secure 8. not transferred to a country which does not have adequate data protection laws. Information will only be disclosed to third parties on a need to know basis and only if we believe that such disclosure is lawful. Global Language Services Ltd. Staff are expected to do whatever is necessary to ensure compliance with the Data Protection Act 1998, and in particular to follow our Data Protection Procedures. Due to the diversity of our associate workforce and to the requirements of our

116 service provision, Global Language Services Ltd has the need to collect, use and retain data classified as sensitive. This includes (but is not restricted to) data on individuals racial or ethnic origin and details of the commission or alleged commission of any offence and any court proceedings relating to the commission of an offence. This information is always collected with the explicit consent of the relevant party/parties. Under the Act, you may write to the Data Protection Co-ordinator as above and request a copy of the information which we hold about you. We reserve the right to charge the maximum fee payable in terms of the Act for providing this information. If the details are inaccurate you can ask us to amend them. Reviewed November 2008

117 Annex H Racial Equality Policy Global Language Services Ltd believes that discrimination on grounds of race is unacceptable. Discrimination is wrong whether it is deliberate and obvious or unintentional and indirect. Global Language Services Ltd adopts a zero tolerance policy towards racist behaviour. All possible steps will be taken to protect full-time staff and associates from racist behaviour by an individual or group. Our responsibility under the Race Relations Act 1976, as amended by the Race Relations (Amendment) Act 2000, are set out within our Race Equality Policy. It is proper for an organisation operating within the language industry to demonstrate that its workforce reflects the ethnic diversity of the relevant wider population of the community it serves. Clearly, Global Language Services Ltd can show this for its associates by the width of nationalities operating our service. Our full-time administrative staff reflects similar diversity and, at this time, consists of individuals originally from one of the following countries: Czech Republic, Holland, Portugal, Scotland, France, Lithuania, Namibia, Poland, Malaysia and England. The company believes that it benefits from engaging staff from a variety of racial, ethnic and national background, thus allowing it to better meet the needs of its diverse Associate population. Our commitment: Equal treatment of all persons regardless of their race, ethnic or national origin or colour is affirmed We recognise racist behaviour as a hostile or offensive act or expression by a person of one racial or ethnic origin against a person of another or intent to commit such an act. All associates are required to countersign such a commitment when completing the Code of Practice and Code of Ethics of the Company. That all organisational activities and procedures will promote equal opportunities and encourage good race relations in order to provide a positive working environment. A commitment to our Race Relations Policy is incorporated in our conditions of supply of service and issued to all potential customers. Any breach of our race Equality Policy will be investigated and dealt with through the Disciplinary Procedures of the company.

118 ANNEX I Environmental Policy Global Language Services Ltd. has got the following policy regarding the environment We recycle used paper within our office We recycle all tonner/ink cartridges (to assist charities). We provide, on average, over 6,000 interpreting appointments per year. o We continually encourage our interpreters to use public transport rather than private transport. o The use of taxis is strictly forbidden without our prior consent. o The use of personal cars is also limited and where interpreters are required to travel long distances, preference is given to public transport. We encourage our office staff to travel in an environmentally friendly way. I.e. many of our employees travel by foot, bicycle or public transport. We are currently in the final stages of developing an in-house software package as part of our objective of moving towards the "paperless office" ideal, where all booking tasks will be fully computerised and there will be little need for paper. This software package is being developed by Glasgow Software and is now in the final development stages. We use recycled stationery as much as possible. We offer incentives to suppliers who choose to be paid electronically or to have remittances sent electronically As far as possible, we use low-energy computer appliances.

119 Annex J Note: Figures in this report are show only as an example for the purposes of this tender and should not be taken as a reflection of the actual report submitted to the relevant authority. COPFS Usage Analysis Interpreting Services Information Covering April 2009 LANGUAGE SERVICES LIMITED Craig House 2 nd Floor Darnley St Glasgow G41 2SE Tel: [email protected] COVERAGE Areas Covered Offices Covered Languages Covered (Interpreting Only) Total Number of Interpreting Assignments Total Number of Translating Assignments Total Number of Cancelled Interpreting Assignments xx xx xx xxx xx x

120 Interpreting Assignments by Area Area Area 2 Area 3 Area 4 Area 5 Area 6 Area 7 Area Area 9 Area 10 Area 11 77

121 Language Breakdown for Interpreting Assignments Language 1 Language 2 Language 3 30 Language 4 Language 5 Language Language 7 Language 8 Language Language 10 Language 11 Language Language 13 Language 14 Language 15 Language Language Language 18 Language 19 Language 20 Language 21

122 Breakdown of Glasgow Bookings Court 1 Court 2 Court 3 Court 4 55

123 Translation Assignments by Language Language 1 Language 2 Language 3 1 Language 4 Language 5 Language Language 7 Language 8 Language 9 Language 10 2

124 Annex K Our Greater Glasgow and West of Scotland database would cover locations marked with a G (over 1,500 interpreters) Our Lothian and Borders and Central Scotland database would cover locations marked with a LB (over 350 interpreters) Our Aberdeenshire database would cover locations marked with a A (over 100 interpreters) Our Inverness database would cover locations marked with a I (over 250 interpreters) (Annex 2 to Schedule B) Scottish Court service - Locations NO. ADDRESS NO. ADDRESS SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - A SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I 1 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 27 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE CASTLE STREET LOCHMADDY ABERDEEN NORTH UIST AB9 1AP PA82 5AE SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I 2 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 28 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE WATERGATE LEWIS STREET KIRKWALL STORNOWAY ORKNEY ISLE OF LEWIS KW15 1PD PA87 2JF SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I 3 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 29 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE KING ERIK STREET FERRY ROAD LERWICK DINGWALL SHETLAND IV15 9QX SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - A SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I 4 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 30 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE DUNNOTTAR AVENUE HIGH STRET STONEHAVEN TAIN AB3 2JH IV19 1AB SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I 5 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 31 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE THE CASTLE BRIDGE STREET INVERNESS WICK IV2 3EG KW1 4AJ

125 SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I 6 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 32 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE HIGH STREET CASTLE STREET FORT WILLIAM DORNOCH PH33 6EE IV25 3FD

126 SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - I 7 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 33 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE SOMERLED SQUARE HIGH STREET PORTREE ELGIN ISLE OF SKYE MORAY IV51 9EH IV30 1BU SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - A SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - A 8 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 34 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE LOW STREET QUEEN STREET BANFF PETERHEAD AB45 1AU AB42 6TP SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB 9 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 35 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE CHAMBERS STREET COURT STREET EDINBURGH HADDINGTON EH1 1LB EH41 3HN SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB 10 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 36 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE HIGH STREET HIGH STREET LINLITHGOW PEEBLES EH49 7EQ EH45 8SW SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB 11 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 37 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE CASTLEGATE ALMONDVALE BOULEVARD JEDBURGH LIVINGSTON TD8 6AR SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB SUPREME COURT FOR SCOTLAND - LB 12 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 38 PARLIAMENT HOUSE ETTRCK TERRACE HIGH STREET SELKIRK EDINBURGH TD7 4LE EH1 1RQ

127 SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB 13 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 39 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 6 WEST BELL STREET ST CATHERINE'S STREET DUNDEE CUPAR DD1 9AD KY15 4LX SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB 14 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 40 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE TAY STREET 1/6 CARNEGIE DRIVE PERTH DUNFERMLINE PH2 8NL KY12 7HJ SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB 15 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 41 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE TOWN HOUSE WHYTECAUSEWAY 88 HIGH STREET KIRKCALDY ARBROATH KY1 1XQ D11 1HL SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB 16 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 42 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE MARKET STREET VIEWFIELD PLACE FORFAR STIRLING DD8 3LA FK8 1NH SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - LB 17 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 43 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE MAIN STREET MAR STREET CAMELON ALLOA FALKIRK FK10 1HR FK1 4AR SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G 18 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 44 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 1 NELSON STREET GEORGE STREET GREENOCK DUNOON PA15 1TR PA23 8BQ

128 SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G 19 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 45 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE ST JAMES STREET CASTLE STREET PAISLEY ROTHESAY PA3 2HW PA20 9HA SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G 20 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 46 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE CHURCH STREET CASTLE HILL DUMBARTON CAMPBELTOWN G82 1QR PA28 6AN SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G 21 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 47 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE ST MARNOCK STREET ALBANY STREET KILMARNOCK OBAN KA1 1ED PA34 4AL SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G 22 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 48 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 4 BECKFORD STREET GRAHAM STREET HAMILTON AIRDRIE ML3 6AA ML6 6EE SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G 23 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 49 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 24 HOPE STREET HIGH STREET LANARK KIRKCUDBRIGHT ML11 7NE DG6 4JW SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G 24 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 50 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE WELLINGTON SQUARE LEWIS STREET AYR STRANRAER KA7 1DR DG9 7AA

129 SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G SHERIFF CLERK'S OFFICE - G 25 SHERIFF COURT HOUSE 51 SHERIFF COURT OF GLASGOW AND BUCCLEUCH STREET STRATHKELVIN DUMFRIES PO BOX 23 DG1 2AN 1 CARLTON PLACE GLASGOW G5 9DA 26 HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY - G 52 LAWNMARKET EDINBURGH EH1 1RQ HIGH COURT OF JUSTICIARY GLASGOW - G JUSTICIARY BUILDINGS SALTMARKET GLASGOW G1 5JU CROWN OFFICE AND PROCURATOR FISCAL SERVICE - LOCATION Office Address Atholl House, Guild Street, AB11 6QA - A Aberdeen DX No. AB67 Airdrie Sheriff Court, 87A Graham Street, ML6 6EE - G DX No Alloa Sheriff Court FK10 1HR - LB DX No Arbroath Aitken House, 15 Hill Street DD1 1BR - LB DX No Ayr 29 Miller Road KA7 2AX - G DX No. AY21 Banff Sheriff Court AB45 1AU - A DX No

130 Office Address Campbeltown Sheriff Court PA28 6AN - G Cupar Sheriff Court KY15 4LS - LB DX No Dingwall Sheriff Court, Ferry Road IV15 9QX - I DX No Dumbarton St Mary's Way G82 1NL - G DX No Dumfries 44 Buccleuch Street DG1 2AP - LB DX No Dundee Caledonian House, Greenmarket DD1 1QX - LB DX No. DD35 Dunfermline Sheriff Court, Carnegie Drive KY12 7HW - LB DX No. DF19 Dunoon Sheriff Court PA23 8BQ - G DX No Duns Sheriff Court TD11 3DU - LB DX No Edinburgh 29 Chambers Street EH1 1LD - LB DX No Edinburgh 37 Elgin Sheriff Court IV30 1BU - I DX No Falkirk Mansionhouse Road, Camelon FK14LW - LB DX No. FA11 Forfar Sheriff Court DD8 3LA - LB DX No

131 Office Address Fort William Sheriff Court PH33 6BR - I DX No Glasgow 10 Ballater Street, G5 9PS - G DX No Greenock/ Rothesay Sheriff Court, Nelson Street PA15 1TR - G DX No. GR20 Haddington 15 Lodge Street EH41 3DX - LB DX No Hamilton Cameronian House, 3/5 Almada Street ML3 0HG - G DX No.HA7 Inverness 2 Baron Taylor's Street IV11QL - I DX No. IN26 Jedburgh Sheriff Court TD8 6AR - LB DX No Kilmarnock St Marnock Street KA1 1DZ - G DX No. KK17 Kirkcaldy Wing D, Carlyle House, Carlyle Road, Kirkcaldy, KY1 1DB - LB DX No. KY18 Kirkcudbright 1. TEMPORARILY CLOSED - REDIRECT TO DUMFRIES OFFICE - G Sheriff Court DG6 4JW DX No

132 Office Address Kirkwall Sheriff Court KW15 1PD - I Lanark Sheriff Court House, 24 Hope Street, ML11 7NE - G DX No Lerwick Sheriff Court ZE1 0HD - I Linlithgow Stuart House, 181/201 High Street EH49 7EN - LB DX No Lochmaddy Sheriff Court HS6 5AE - I Oban Third Floor, Boswell House, Argyll Square PA34 4BD - G DX No. OB9 Paisley 1 Love Street PA3 2DA - G DX No. PA50 Perth 82 Tay Street PH2 8NN - LB DX No. PE31 Peterhead 70 St Peter Street AB4 6QD - A DX No Portree Sheriff Court IV51 9EH - I Selkirk/ Peebles Sheriff Court TD7 4LE - LB DX No Stirling Carseview House, Castle Business Park FK9 4SW - LB DX No. ST16 Stonehaven Sheriff Court AB39 2JD - A DX No

133 Office Address Stornoway Sheriff Court Buildings, Lewis Street HS1 2JF - I Stranraer Sheriff Court DG9 7AA - G DX No Tain 11 Stafford Street IV19 1BP - I Wick Crown Office Inspectorate of Prosecutions for Scotland Victim Information and Advice National Office Sheriff Court KW1 4AJ - I 25 Chambers Street, Edinburgh, EH1 1LA - LB DX No Edinburgh37 5th Floor, Corunna House, 29 Cadogan Street, Glasgow, G17 1LP - G DX No Caledonian House, Greenmarket, Dundee DD1 1QX - LB

134 Annex M COMPLIANCE TO SPECIFICATION AT SCHEDULE B Yes No Comments Glossary of Terms Understood Yes 1 Background Understood Yes 2 Overview of Requirements Understood Yes 3 Scope of Requirement Understood Yes 4 Quality Understood Yes 5 Qualifications and Understood Yes Experience & Comply 6 Hours of Work Understood Yes & Comply 7 Security Understood Yes & Comply 8 Locations Understood Yes & Comply 9 Management Information Understood Yes Requirements & Comply 10 Complaints Understood Yes & Comply 11 Contract Management Understood Yes & Comply 12 Service Levels Understood Yes & Comply 13 Invoicing/Order Placement Understood Yes Procedures & Comply 14 Continuous Improvements Understood Yes & Comply 15 Transitional Arrangements Understood Yes & Comply 16 Transition After Expiry Understood Yes & Comply 17 Travel and Subsistence Understood Yes & Comply Annex 1 Languages Understood Yes Annex 2 Location SCS/COPFS Understood Yes Annex 3 Collaborative Partners Understood Yes Annex 4 Code of conduct Understood Yes Annex 5 Attendance/Monitoring Form Understood Yes Annex 6 Purchase Order Process Understood Yes Annex 7 Service Levels and Service Understood Yes Credits Annex 8 e Procurement List Understood Yes

135 Annex N Schedule B Annex 1 List of Languages LANGUAGES COVERED BY YOUR OFFER (Please tick) NUMBERS OF INTERPRETERS/ TRANSLATORS/ TRANSCRIBER AVAILABLE LANGUAGE Afrikaans 5 Akan 5 Albanian 24 Alcholi 2 Amharic 25 Arabic 92 Armenian 3 Azerbaijani 5 Bahdini 7 Balochi 1 Bantu 1 Basque 1 Belarusian 3 Bengali 26 Bete Bosnian 3 Bulgarian 11 Burmese 5 Cantonese 56 Chinese 48 Creole 2 Croatian 8 Czech 74 Danish 11 Dari 19 Dinka 4 Dutch 18 Egyptian 25 Estonian 8 Farsi (Afghan) 18 Farsi (Persian) 53 Finnish 9 Flemish 6 French 163

136 Gan 1 N.B. Official language of Ghana is English and there are 9 other Ghanaian regional languages Georgian 8 German 60 Greek 25 Gujarati 8 Gurmukhi 84 Hakka 9 Hausa 3 Hebrew 7 Hindi 43 Hungarian 20 Icelandic 2 Igbo 6 Indonesian 4 Italian 42 Irish Gaelic 1 Japanese 16 Kannada 1 Kazakh 2 Kikongo 2 Kikuyu 4 Kinyarwanda 7 Kisii 1 Kongo 1 Korean 19 Krio 1 Kurdish(Sorani) 31 Kurdish (Kurmanji) 6 Kyrgyz 2 Laotian 1 Latvian 31 Laur Language not known 0 Lingala 28 Lithuanian 27 Luganda 15 Luo 1 Lutora 0 Macedonian 4 Malay 6 Malayalam 7 Maltese 2 Mandarin 107

137 Mandinka 4 Marathi 3 Mauritian-creole 2 Min 1 Mirpuri 9 Mongolian Nepali 6 Norwegian 18 Papiamento 1 Pashto 23 Polish 196 Portuguese 42 Punjabi 101 Romany 6 Romanian 33 Russian 106 Scottish Gaelic 11 Serb-Croat 16 Seychelles-Creole 1 Shona 16 Sinhalese 17 Slovak 46 Slovenian 3 Somali 47 Spanish 95 Swahili 51 Swedish 20 Sylheti(Bengali) 14 Tagalog 10 Tajik 1 Tamil 27 Telugu 9 Thai 17 Tibetan 1 Tigrinya 20 Twi 5 Turkish 39 Turkmen 1 Ukrainian 21 Urdu 108 Uzbek 1 Vietnamese 21 Welsh 3 Wolof 7

138 Wu 2 Xiang 2 Yoruba 8 Yiddish 7 Zulu 4

139 Annex O List of Additional Languages offered by Global Language Services Ltd. Additional Languages LANGUAGES COVERED BY YOUR OFFER (Please tick) NUMBERS OF INTERPRETERS/ TRANSLATORS/ TRANSCRIBER AVAILABLE LANGUAGE Inverness: Swiss German 2 Galician 1 Glasgow: Alzakawa 1 Anambra 1 Bahasa 2 Bajuni 17 Berber 1 Catalan 5 Dagbani 1 Dioula 1 Edo 3 Eritrean 3 Fante 1 Faroese 2 Fula 5 Galican 2 Gallego 1 Gurani 1 Hangaza 1 Jamaican 1 Kalanga 1 Kermanji 1 Kibajuni 2 Kirundi 12 Lusoga 2 Luxemburgish 1 Ndbele 14 Piggin 1 Pothohari 1

140 Shangani 1 Sherpa 1 Sindhi 1 Sotho 1 Taiwanese 4 Tongan 1 Tshiluba 2 Tsonga 1 Xhosa 1 Zaghawa 1 Zawata 1 Edinburgh: Baluchi 1 Bemba 1 Damara 1 Edo 1 Fijian 1 Fula 1 Herero/Himba 1 Ndebele 1 Moldovan 1 Telugu 1 Tshiluba 1 Xhosa 1