Interpreting and translation

If you use services provided or arranged by Social Services and need to discuss something with a member of Social Services staff who does not speak your language, we can provide an interpreter to allow you to understand each other.

Simply contact your social worker in order to arrange this. For people who are contacting Social Services for the first time, the Contact Centre will arrange this for you. In most circumstances, we can arrange interpreting for meetings and consultations, for phone calls, and sometimes also produce brief written materials in other languages.

Social Services employs 2 Bengali / Sylheti interpreters, and 1 Somali interpreter. For other languages, we use an interpreting / translation agency. Interpreting or translation work in any language can be arranged through your social worker.

For people who cannot phone us and do not have anyone who can phone on their behalf, all council offices have Pointer Cards with examples of the range of languages in Tower Hamlets. People can visually identify their own language and an interpreter can be found.

Pid No: 169