Taxpayers in Crawley have been left to pick up a £600 bill for translating just one copy of their quarterly magazine into Urdu. The 12-page publication, which is sent to all Crawley Homes’ tenants, contains advice on renting and lifestyle tips, ironically including advice on prudently managing finances.
Of course translations are sometimes necessary to publicise vital services like the police or hospitals; but to spend over £600 of taxpayers’ money translating a booklet doling out patronising advice for a single resident is wasteful. But don’t take our word for it; another resident claimed that the magazine was “routinely just put in the bin”.
This isn’t the first example of councils wasting money translating pointless publications. Back in 2009, we came across an equality leaflet which Southwark Council had translated into Bengali, Chinese, French, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese.
Glossy magazines are an expensive waste of money in English, let alone translating them for one resident. Crawley Council has a responsibility to spend taxpayers’ money more responsibly and should learn lessons from this costly case.Taxpayers in Crawley have been left to pick up a £600 bill for translating just one copy of their quarterly magazine into Urdu. The 12-page publication, which is sent to all Crawley Homes’ tenants, contains advice on renting and lifestyle tips, ironically including advice on prudently managing finances.
Of course translations are sometimes necessary to publicise vital services like the police or hospitals; but to spend over £600 of taxpayers’ money translating a booklet doling out patronising advice for a single resident is wasteful. But don’t take our word for it; another resident claimed that the magazine was “routinely just put in the bin”.
This isn’t the first example of councils wasting money translating pointless publications. Back in 2009, we came across an equality leaflet which Southwark Council had translated into Bengali, Chinese, French, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese.
Glossy magazines are an expensive waste of money in English, let alone translating them for one resident. Crawley Council has a responsibility to spend taxpayers’ money more responsibly and should learn lessons from this costly case.
Of course translations are sometimes necessary to publicise vital services like the police or hospitals; but to spend over £600 of taxpayers’ money translating a booklet doling out patronising advice for a single resident is wasteful. But don’t take our word for it; another resident claimed that the magazine was “routinely just put in the bin”.
This isn’t the first example of councils wasting money translating pointless publications. Back in 2009, we came across an equality leaflet which Southwark Council had translated into Bengali, Chinese, French, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese.
Glossy magazines are an expensive waste of money in English, let alone translating them for one resident. Crawley Council has a responsibility to spend taxpayers’ money more responsibly and should learn lessons from this costly case.Taxpayers in Crawley have been left to pick up a £600 bill for translating just one copy of their quarterly magazine into Urdu. The 12-page publication, which is sent to all Crawley Homes’ tenants, contains advice on renting and lifestyle tips, ironically including advice on prudently managing finances.
Of course translations are sometimes necessary to publicise vital services like the police or hospitals; but to spend over £600 of taxpayers’ money translating a booklet doling out patronising advice for a single resident is wasteful. But don’t take our word for it; another resident claimed that the magazine was “routinely just put in the bin”.
This isn’t the first example of councils wasting money translating pointless publications. Back in 2009, we came across an equality leaflet which Southwark Council had translated into Bengali, Chinese, French, Spanish, Turkish and Vietnamese.
Glossy magazines are an expensive waste of money in English, let alone translating them for one resident. Crawley Council has a responsibility to spend taxpayers’ money more responsibly and should learn lessons from this costly case.