Interpreters hourly pay rate has been cut by up to 50% resulting in campaigning from those who act as translators for a number of public bodies.
(1888PressRelease) March 05, 2013 - The Association of Community Interpreting Standards has officially been launched at Eastbourne Town Hall by those who act as translators for the NHS, councils and other public bodies.
The group of 400 interpreters in Sussex are mounting a campaign against cuts to their income to raise the profile of their work and to highlight a crisis in their profession; which is the pressure to cut their hourly pay rates, in some cases almost by half. This is not just a local problem but one that is happening across the UK.
The pressure to reduce costs has resulted after cuts have been made in the public sector budget, and an increase in competition between big translation and interpreting companies. To win public sector contracts they have had to reduce their prices which will be passed on to the interpreters they employ.
Translator Ali Akbar, from Brighton, is one of the founding members of the association. He said: "We appreciate that councils and the NHS are facing serious cuts - but as community interpreters we feel that we offer a vital service to very vulnerable people. We do more than translate; we also help people to make crucial decisions about their lives in a culture they're not familiar with. It's very depressing to see how our pay is being eroded. Three years ago I could expect to earn between £26 and £30 an hour, with travel expenses paid on top of that. Now I can be asked to do an hour's interpreting for as little as £16 an hour with no travel expenses. Once I've taken away time and money for travel I can end up earning about £3 an hour."
These cuts in interpreter's hourly rates will be familiar to court interpreters. The contract between the Ministry of Justice and Capital was awarded partly because of the contractors promised to provides services at a reduced cost, these savings however has derived from reduced interpreter fees which has resulted in many court interpreter refusing to work for Capita.
A spokesman from WORDtrans said "As a translation and interpreting Services Company we totally support the stance local interpreters are making.
Professional people deserve to be paid professional fees and while we support austerity levels and the need to reduce public spending, there comes a point when cost cutting adversely affects the ability to deliver a professional service. We believe that point has been reached here."
Interpreters hourly pay rate has been cut by up to 50% resulting in campaigning from those who act as translators for a number of public bodies. 
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