Question reference: S6W-01324
- Asked by: Foysol Choudhury, MSP for Lothian, Scottish Labour
- Date lodged: 8 July 2021
-
Current status: Answered by Clare Haughey on 5 August 2021
Question
To ask the Scottish Government how it will address the concerns raised in the 2020 Insights report, Spoken Language Interpreters in Social Work, in particular those regarding (a) shortages of skilled interpreters and (b) the ad hoc nature of the service in place to support clients.
Answer
The Scottish Government is committed to improving and embedding inclusive communication within Government and across public bodies, this is a focus of one of our Equality Outcomes for the 2021-25 reporting period, as well as being a 2020 PfG commitment. The Scottish Government intends all local services to be accessible to all citizens in Scotland, regardless of circumstances of an individual service user.
We believe that as professionals, Social Workers are best placed to make a professional judgment based on their assessment of need exactly what, if any additional support is required. This assessment will include consideration of need for Spoken Language Interpreters, British Sign Language and any form of verbal/non-verbal communication requirements.