If you are using translation services and are part of the UK Government then you should be using the pan Government agreement 05/GEN/25 for Translation Services. If you have not heard about the agreement then this page gives some background information.

K International are happy to attend any Government event to present the benefits of this translation agreement in person. Please contact us on 01908 572600, email info@k-international.com or use our contact page to arrange a meeting.

UK Demographics

Our research shows that there are approximately six million people living in the UK that were not born here. This figure is higher than ever before.

As the population becomes increasing diverse it brings with it a series of new challenges, notably the effective communication with ethnic minorities.

This is why the OGC (in partnership with large users of the translation services from the Government) has established a pan Government agreement for translation services, 05/GEN/25.

The agreement is OJEU compatible and can be used across Government without the expense of a tendering exercise or mini competition.

OGC Support

This agreement has the full support of the OGC.

Peter Fanning, Acting Chief Executive of the OGC, has highlighted 05/GEN/25 as one of 12 leading Pan Government Frameworks that the OGC believe the whole of Government should be using. In fact if you are not using 05/GEN/25 for you translation projects the OGC will require written confirmation and evidence that the alternative supplier is in fact providing value for money.

05/GEN/25 provides good value because it is procured collaboratively, using the Government's enormous buying power in the translation industry to lower prices and improve services levels. As Mr Fanning says,

“Government increases the value for money it obtains from taxpayers’ money when it procures its goods and services collaboratively. ”

He continues,

“By using arrangements such as these, which have already gone through the OJEU process, departments can avoid the need to undertake full EU procurement exercises. For most of these deals, departments will also benefit from the services of a dedicated contract management team, providing regular management information, and resolving any supplier relationship issues that may arise, again saving departmental resources.”

Local Government Procurement Strategy

05/GEN/25 is currently being expanded to include all Local Authorities in the UK.

The 2x2 below is taken from the National Procurement Strategy Document for Local Government. It is used to provide a quick snap shot of what procurement strategies should be used when setting up contacts for various services.

Translation services are largely homogeneous across Local Government and fit into the bottom right hand box. Which means that,

“the key is to leverage collective buying power and minimise the cost of the procurement process.”

All of the Local Authorities in the UK can leverage their collective buying power and use one agreement. Making the OGC framework for translation services the perfect fit for Local Authorities.

Economic Benefits of Collaborative Procurement

The laws of economics tell us that as more of a product is manufactured the cost to produce the next unit will be lower than the last. Think about a car manufacture producing 1000 cars as opposed to 1001, they have the plant, they have the engineers, they have the suppliers, the cost to the car producer to make the 1 extra car is almost equal to the cost of the components (make sure you tell them this the next time you're in the showroom!).

It works the same in the services industry, the more of a service you provide to a particular customer the lower the average cost to supply the service will become. For instance you can think about a hairdresser cutting the hair of one extra customer in a day. The cost to the hairdressing salon to service that customer is virtually zero as all of the large fixed costs are paid for.

With this is mind we have used the laws of economics (economies of scale) to help to explain how money can be saved on translation services. The graph below shows that as more translation is produced the average (i.e. the cost to produce the next word) will drop.

To increase the amount of translation that a particular department procures collaborative cross Government practices can be used. This is the purpose of the pan Government agreement.

At present 05/GEN/25 is used by the following departments, HMRC, CBO, DWP, HM Prison Service, BIA, MOJ, NHS, Police, and many others. Your department may not have a large spend but by using this agreement you can leverage the buying power of some of the largest users of translation services in the world.

Other Benefits

The OGC has also included additional benefits in this agreement, these are;

The generation of translation memories. Now that all translation is managed centrally translation memories can be developed. This will dramatically reduce the cost of translation services in the future as all (non secure) translation will be ‘remembered’ by K International’s translation memory software. This will be presented the next time we translate making the costs of updates and similar releases lower.

Additional services. Other services can be procured using this agreement. Briefly they are, Translation, Transcription, Braille, Large Print, EasyRead, Voice-overs, Cultural Understanding, DVD production, Proofreading and Design services.

Service levels. Service levels exist from immediate turnaround to 10 day turnaround.

Free help-desk. A free translation services help-desk has been setup to support the Government when producing material in a language other than English. This is available on 01908 572600.

K International are happy to attend any Government event to present the benefits of this translation agreement in person. Please contact us on 01908 572600, email info@k-international.com or use our contact page to arrange a meeting.