East Riding of Yorkshire Council is helping residents who find it difficult to communicate with its staff because English is not their first language.
And already the service has helped a Japanese woman to fulfil her dream of owning an allotment.

East Riding of Yorkshire Council is helping residents who find it difficult to communicate with its staff because English is not their first language.
And already the service has helped a Japanese woman to fulfil her dream of owning an allotment.

The council has employed the extensive range of translation services available from local company EITI.
Services available include a 24-hour translation service in more than 300 languages, including British Sign Language, and translation provided on a face-to-face basis, over the phone, in writing or by video conferencing at council customer service centres and CitizenLinks.

The EITI language translation service was used recently by Beverly Goodall, a customer service centre team member in Beverley.
A Japanese customer came into the CSC who could not speak English. Beverly thought that she was trying to say something about wanting to grow vegetables but they were unable to understand each other.

Beverly then rang the EITI language line, explained the situation and was quickly transferred to a Japanese translator.
The translator then spoke to the customer and was able to tell Beverly that the customer had just moved to the East Riding and wanted an allotment.
Through a three-way conservation with the EITI translator and the customer, Beverly was able to complete the application form for an allotment.

Beverly said: "The EITI language line was easy to use and that the staff were helpful, polite and efficient.
"Most importantly, the customer was pleased and relieved that she could speak to someone who could understand her and help her with her inquiry."

*A "Talkback" facility is also available whereby customers who want to communicate in one of the 10 languages determined most likely to be spoken in the East Riding can contact EITI direct to speak to someone who speaks
their language.
If the call relates to a council service, EITI will contact the council to deal with the query via a three-way telephone call between EITI, the customer and the council.

In consultation with EITI, the 10 languages most likely to be encountered within the East Riding from customers for whom English is not their first language have been identified.
The 10 languages chosen are a combination of those most likely to be either spoken or understood.