One hundred languages at the end of the line

North Norfolk residents and visitors who have trouble understanding English will soon have improved access to District Council services and facilities through a host of telephone interpreters.

From Friday, 1 March, North Norfolk District Council will be subscribing to 'Language Line', a London-based telephone interpretation service that offers almost immediate help in more than 100 languages.

The new service will mean that anyone who cannot speak English and wishes to communicate with the Council and its staff will be able to access services and make themselves clearly understood within a matter of seconds.

Since it is a telephone service, Language Line will be available not only at the Council's offices, sports facilities and tourist information centres, it will also be accessible from local households and businesses.

Language Line, which is already used by many health authorities, police forces, charities and other local authorities in the UK, is simple to use. As soon as a non-English speaking person arrives at the Council offices, a trained member of NNDC's staff will call Language Line, give an ID number and indicate the language required. Within 90 seconds, the Language Line operator will connect the non-English speaker and the Council officer with an appropriate interpreter so that a three-way conversation or interview can then proceed. Like Council staff, Language Line interpreters will treat all conversations in absolute confidence.

"Although we don't have a large ethnic or non-English speaking population in North Norfolk, there may well be some people who stay away from the Council because they think we cannot help them," said Margaret Drury, NNDC Policy Officer. "If there are such residents, or visitors, I hope Language Line will encourage them to approach us for the information, advice or services they are entitled to."

North Norfolk District Council is committed to providing good quality, value-for-money services that are responsive to the needs of, and accessible to, all sections of the community. It has subscribed to Language Line to comply with its Equal Opportunities Policy, which states that the Council should work towards making all its buildings, communications and services accessible to everyone.