Whether it be to communicate with patients; understand a witness at a scene; or prepare a public statement in multiple languages, access to translation services is vital to keep emergency services running smoothly.
Although public sector organisations can procure their own compliant solution for translation services, it can often be a lengthy, expensive and complicated process to undertake – this is where ESPO can help.
ESPO has a team of procurement experts who have created a comprehensive and compliant route to procure these services, which is completely free to access.
The framework – created in collaboration with YPO – is split into five Lots to help organisations find the right service for them, including dedicated sub-Lots for police and the health sector. As well as tailored Lots, the framework boasts numerous other benefits for organisations.
ESPO monitors the fair pay of linguists via its suppliers and will continue to do this throughout the life of the framework as a promise to its customers. The linguists have also been clearly benchmarked to ensure they are reflective of the market expectations, andcompetitive rates have been secured with additional opportunity to aggregate spend and demand within organisations.
If needed, ESPO is able to provide template procurement and contractual documentation to assist further, and emergency services are able to access suppliers via direct award – a route that considerably speeds up time.
In addition, ESPO has embedded social value into the framework, which will enable framework users to obtain the benefits of social value at a localised level – this will help support the public sector in delivering economic, social and environmental value.
Chloe Muir, Senior Procurement Officer at ESPO, said “We are incredibly proud to bring this solution to market to provide vital translation services for the public sector and its frontline services. We have worked with our customers in the emergency services sector to create a framework that covers a variety of options, including access to remote translation services which has proven even more important than ever during this time.”
Established in 1981, ESPO is a professional buying organisation (PBO) located in Leicester, that specialises in providing a wide range of goods and services to the public sector. The organisation is 100% owned by the public sector, which means any surplus they make is returned to the public purse via its member authorities.
