Spending on translators has once again been criticised by city MP Stewart Jackson – with Peterborough City Council in the firing line this time.

A Freedom of Information request submitted by Mr Jackson revealed that the council spent £171,550 on translation in 2009/10. Of this figure, £82,757 was spent on translating council literature into foreign languages, while £88,793 was spent on speech translators including £6,959 for sign language interpretation.

This means that spending has increased by almost £100,000 in two years with the spending in 2007/08 being just £79,366. No figures were available for 2008/09.

It comes just over a week after Mr Jackson criticised Cambridgeshire police for spending £809,164 on translation in 2009/10, a rise of £131,862 on the year before.  And Mr Jackson thinks translation costs must be cut at a time when local government funding is at a premium.

The Conservative leader of Peterborough City Council Marco Cereste said that a review of translation spending was ongoing. But he also said that spending on translation was unavoidable and suggested that Mr Jackson’s Conservative Party should make some changes to the law if he wants to see savings.

See: Peterborough Today