Who is Oxford City Council?

Oxford City Council is the local government authority responsible for providing leisure and travel facilities to more than 150,000 people living in the city. 

The council presides over one of England’s most well-known and ancient cities, home to the first university in the English-speaking world. In recent years, the city has become increasingly diverse and metropolitan. 

 

The challenge

Oxford City Council required a language services partner that was able to deliver the following: 

  • Support with resident applications for council services such as housing benefits and information for food banks
  • A fully managed service capable of handling their extensive requirements 
  • Provide linguistic support to the Council’s work with asylum seekers
  • Guidance on maintaining best practice and accessibility across communities in a large area
  • Drive cost efficiencies through technology
  • Provide greater data insight and transparency of how the service is run

As all public bodies in the UK are, the Council is bound by law to provide accessible services for all, regardless of language. 

They provide an extensive range of services to a diverse population, including adult social care, children’s services, economy and environment, and resources and transformation. 

Benefits at a glance
5-3

100% fulfilment of all services

3-2

Introduced time and cost saving remote services

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Integrated booking software with data visibility

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Provision of rare languages

BSL

British Sign Language

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Fully managed language and accessibility service

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Access to advanced DBS checked linguists

BSL (3)

Access to our in-house team of voiceover artists, subtitling experts and editors

 

How Word360 helped

We now provide a fully managed language service to Oxford City Council, including access to any language they need with a provision for rare languages too. 

Our linguists are on-hand to the Council round the clock, all of whom are advanced DBS checked as standard and receive ongoing training and support, making them experts in their field. This allows the Council access to any language at any time. 

We’ve also made use of our advanced technology offering to help Oxford City Council implement remote solutions such as video and telephone interpreting, all of which can be managed and viewed through our proprietary Wordskii platform. 

Under our agreement with the Council, we have provided: 

  • Face-to-face interpreting 
  • Telephone interpreting (pre-booked and on-demand)
  • Video interpreting (pre-booked and on-demand)
  • Non-spoken communication (BSL)
  • Document translation and transcription
  • Ancillary services such as braille, large print and moon 
 
 

The Results

In the course of our agreement with Oxford City Council, we have achieved a 100% fulfilment rate for all services, including the provision of British Sign Language. 

We have introduced the use of remote services and advanced booking systems which provide complete oversight of usage data and costs. This acts to increase service efficiency both for the Council and for end users. 

We’ve provided services into a huge range of organisations that the council is responsible for, from the Citizen’s Advice Bureau to local schools. 

Oxford council have benefitted from our in-house team of subtitling experts and voiceover artists, who supported the council in releasing videos promoting the city of Oxford to new residents with limited English. 

Oxford City Council now has a fully managed language service they can rely on for any of their language and accessibility needs, 24/7, 365 days a year.

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