Taxpayers spend £20million on interpreters to help foreigners claim benefits - with Polish, Slovak and Czech in most demand

The Department for Work and Pensions revealed spending since 2010

Most spent on people from Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic

Fears of rising bill after restrictions lifted on Romania and Bulgaria



The taxpayer has spent £20million in four years on translators for foreigners on benefits, it emerged today.

The Department for Work and Pensions said most money was spent on interpreters for people from Poland, Slovakia and the Czech Republic.

But there are fears that the bill will rise after restrictions on migrants from Romania and Bulgaria were lifted at the start of this month.

Costs: The Department for Work and Pensions revealed how the bill for interpreters has topped £20million in four years

David Cameron ordered new curbs on access to benefits for people arriving in the UK ahead of the ending of EU work restrictions for Romanians and Bulgarians.

Laws were rushed through to stop immigrants claiming benefits for the first three months of arriving in Britain.

The Department for Work and Pensions revealed details of the cost of interpreter services in response to a freedom of information request.

In 2010 the bill came to £6,751,551, falling to £4,768,619 in 2011 and £4,118,816 in 2012.

But it is on the up again, hitting £4,164,624 from January to November, latest figures show.

It means that in the last four years the total cost is £19,803,610.

There are around 645,000 Poles living in the UK, 60,000 Slovakians and around 40,000 people from the Czech Republic.

Prime Minister David Cameron ordered new curbs on access to benefits for migrants ahead of work restrictions on Romanians and Bulgarians being lifted

A spokesman for the DWP said: ‘Although we do not have the information for the top six countries that interpreter services were used for, the top three have consistently been Polish, Slovak and Czech.’

Almost one in 10 people claiming the dole is not British, according to figures released last year.

It includes 35,000 from the EU, 35,000 from Africa, 33,000 from Asia and the Middle East and 6,500 from the Americas.

Poland tops the league table with 14,610 JSA claimants, followed by Pakistan 7,660, Somalia 7,120 and Portugal 5,860.

It also included 4,130 Iraqis, 3,620 Nigerians, 3,290 Jamaicans and 3,120 from France

Private firm The Big Word won a contract to provide a telephone interpreting service for two years from May 2011.

This has since been extended until 10th May 2014, the DWP said.

Another company, Prestige Network, offers face-to-face interpreting services. A two-year contract from August 2011 has now been extended until 31st January 2015.

A source at the department said today: ‘It’s a lot of money, most of it being spent on Polish interpreters.

‘You can imagine there is some concern that the bill will rise significantly more in the coming years as the number of Romanians and Bulgarians coming to live in the UK increases.’

A DWP spokesman said: 'We have a legal obligation to provide interpreters for people who would otherwise have difficulty accessing our services.