Apparently it’s quite common for British local authorities to offer translation services to their inhabitants. Multilingual London gives links to some of them, and also to Multikulti, which ‘provides accessible, accurately translated advice and information in community languages’ (not German, in this case). Perhaps this is the context of the following text, which was quoted in the star letter to the ITI Bulletin for September-October 2007. The London Borough of Lewisham recently awarded a £450,000 contract for translation and interpretation services:

Award criteria: The most economically advantageous tender in terms of
1. Financial including price. Weighting: 40.
2. Ability to meet specification requirements. Weighting: 27.
3. Quality assurance and monitoring. Weighting: 12.
4. Working with smaller specialist firms. Weighting: 6.
5. Confidentiality arrangements. Weighting: 3.
6. Technical solution offered. Weighting: 3.
7. Previous experience and references. Weighting: 3.
8. Communications and training provision. Weighting:3.
9. Additional requirements. Weighting: 3.