Interpreting Services and Digital Language Services - Market Engagement

Milton Keynes City Council (‘the Council’) would like to engage in discussions with providers of Interpreter Service to develop collaborative approaches to increasing local sufficiency. Milton Keynes City Council is seeking early engagement with the market to inform the development of a new contract model that reflects both traditional and digital approaches to language access.

This will ensure continued support and improved service delivery; it is proposed that the Interpreter Service be recommissioned from 1 May 2026 under a new contract structure. The contract will be looking to cover both traditional and digital approaches to language access.

The recommissioned service will be: 1. Traditional Interpreting Services: (Face-to-Face, Telephone, and Video Interpreting – Spoken and Non-Spoken) 2.

Digital and AI-Supported Language Tools: (Translation, Transcription, and Communication Support Technologies) We are keen to hear from providers on the questions given in the market engagement document. The responses to the questions will help the Council in developing the specification and the tender.

Please respond to the questions within the attached document by latest 5pm on 16th July 2025 via In-Tend Correspondence section/market engagement stage. A provider engagement event will be held w/c 28th July 2025, please indicate in the attached document if you would like to receive an invitation. The Market Engagement document can be accessed on our e-tendering portal: https://in-tendhost.co.uk/milton-keynes/aspx/Home