Sign Language Interpretation
Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body
Key details
Procurement
- 79540000 Interpretation services
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What happened
The contract runs until 31 Aug 2029.
Description
The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB) requires a Contractor to provide Sign Language Interpretation Services. The main part of the requirement is from English to/from British Sign Language. The Contractor must provide simultaneous BSL interpreting for parliamentary business as requested. This will be filmed live and broadcasted on the BSL Channel on the Scottish Parliament TV (SPTV), other broadcast channels and will be archived.
There will also be a requirement to provide other forms of sign languages or supporting services as required.
Full description
The Scottish Parliament Corporate Body (SPCB) requires a Contractor to provide Sign Language Interpretation Services. The objective of this Contract is to enable people living in Scotland who are Deaf, Deafblind, hard of hearing, or who have other communication support needs to engage with the Scottish Parliament and participate meaningfully in parliamentary business, public engagement activities, and events.
The Contractor must work cooperatively with the SPCB to provide solutions for all SPCB sign language requirements. As a minimum, the Contractor must be able to provide the following Services:
1. BSL interpreting of FMQs, which are broadcast live on SPTV, currently on the BBC, and to visitors in the Chamber gallery and Main Hall.
2. BSL interpreting of other parliamentary business, which may also be filmed, and broadcast either live or retrospectively.
3. Interpreting for Scottish Parliament events, including ceremonial events such as the Opening of Parliament, and engagement events such as the Festival of Politics. Some of these events will be filmed, broadcast and archived.
4. Interpreting for witnesses giving evidence to committees.
5. Interpreting for participants in engagement activities, including workshops, focus groups, educational sessions, tours, and meetings.
6. Interpreting for visitors to the Scottish Parliament accessing parliamentary services and facilities.
7. Tactile BSL.
Most requirements are expected to involve interpreting between English and BSL. The Contractor may be required to provide other sign languages or additional supporting services as needed.
Requirements for live interpreting of parliamentary business that is broadcast will always be in BSL and is expected to form the main element of the Services under this Contract. The Contractor must be able to deliver this at a consistently high standard.
In line with the commitments set out in its BSL Plan, the SPCB aims to continually improve the service it provides to Deaf and Deafblind BSL users. The Contractor must therefore not only meet the requirements in this Specification to a consistently high standard.
Additional information
The bidder must be able to meet the SPCB’s minimum requirements in respect of Cyber Security for this Contract.
The Cyber Risk Profile for this contract is moderate, based on the Scottish Cyber Assessment Service. At tender stage the bidder must, by means of completion of the Supplier Assurance Questionnaire (SAQ) demonstrate and maintain cyber security measures to meet a pass mark against this assessment. For assurance purposes, the SPCB requires tenderers to hold Cyber Essentials certification (or equivalent).
The buyer is using PCS-Tender to conduct this ITT exercise. The Project code is 31525. For more information see: http://www.publiccontractsscotland.gov.uk/info/InfoCentre.aspx?ID=2343
How to engage
For SPD question 4A.1 - Not used For SPD question 4A.2 - Not used For SPD questions 4B.1 to 4B.4 - Not used For SPD question 4B.5 - It is a requirement of this contract that bidders hold, or can commit to obtain prior to the commencement of any subsequently awarded contract, the types and levels of insurance indicated below: Employers Liability Insurance 5,000,000 Professional Indemnity 5,000,000 For SPD question 4B.6 - The Scottish Parliamentary Corporate Body (SPCB) uses Creditsafe, an independent provider of online business credit reports, to assess the financial standing of tenderers. We highly recommend that tenderers review their financial performance on Creditsafe to understand their credit score rating which will be used by the SPCB to evaluate the financial standing of the tenderer and that they read the information about how that data is collected and used prior to submitting a tender. Information and the opportunity to run a free report can be found at http://www.creditsafe.com/products/business-credit-reports/ The SPCB requires tenderers to have a Creditsafe Risk Score of 40 or higher to demonstrate satisfactory financial standing. If a tenderer has a lower credit risk score than 40 on Creditsafe and has the backing of a parent company with a credit risk score of 40 or higher, then the provision of a parent company guarantee will be required prior to the award of any contract. If a tenderer has a lower credit risk score than 40 and cannot provide a parent company guarantee, they must submit evidence to support a stable and improved financial standing with their tender or the tender may be rejected. If no evidence is provided with the tender or the evidence provided is not sufficient to demonstrate a satisfactory financial position to the satisfaction of the SPCB (whose decision in this regard shall be final), then the tender will be rejected and will not be evaluated further. If a tenderer is not listed on Creditsafe, for whatever reason,
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View all →External ID: pcs-ocds-r6ebe6-0000827298 • Added 15 April 2026