Eliot Keck, head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance has branded the Government's £8 million annual spending on translation services for benefits claimants as "completely inappropriate".
The Department for Work and Pensions (DWP) has provided translation services across nearly 90 different languages over the past three years, with each call costing an average of £250.
He told GB News: "People who come here on an asylum basis such as Ukraine.
"There will be Ukrainian refugees that probably have very limited English speaking capabilities, but the expectation should be that anybody that claims benefits speaks English, and if they don't speak English, they should learn to speak English very, very rapidly.
Eliot Keck, Head of campaigns at the TaxPayers' Alliance branded the amount "completely inappropriate"
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"It's simply unsustainable for us as a country to provide public services in general, but in particular benefits to those who can't speak English.
"We spend hundreds of millions of pounds on interpretation and translation services across a range of public services. Some of them are very legitimate.
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"If you're a witness in court and you don't have much English, but you're an important witness, obviously you need access to interpreters.
"I think even if you're a suspect, you're you are entitled to a fair trial. And if you don't have good English speaking abilities, that should be provided to you by the courts. But benefits are a very different system. They're called benefits, right? They are a privilege.
"They are not something you are necessarily automatically entitled to. There's something that you get because you're a citizen of the country and you genuinely are unable to work.
"But if you're someone that is not able to speak English, you have not even done the bare minimum of integration. I think we need to really look at whether or not translation services for benefit claimants are appropriate."
The DWP has been spending £25,000 on average per day on interpretation servicesPAThe total cost over three years reached £23.1 million, covering both phone and video calls, as well as in-person meetings.
Among the rarer languages translated were Mirpuri, a dialect spoken by around 500,000 people in parts of India and Pakistan, which required 44 calls over three years.
The service also provided translation for two calls in Bassa, a language used by approximately 800,000 people across Liberia, Ivory Coast and Sierra Leone.
Other uncommon languages included Twi from Ghana, Senufo from northern Ivory Coast, Kassonke from Mali and Bambara from parts of West Africa.
The services covered sign language interpretation as well, which was needed in 2,600 calls by both claimants and DWP staff.
European languages like German, French and Italian showed relatively low demand despite sizeable immigrant communities in the UK.
A DWP spokesperson defended the translation services, noting they support millions through Universal Credit payments annually.
"Only two per cent of hundreds of millions of calls to the department requiring an interpreter in 2024 and clear rules on who qualifies for support," the spokesperson said.
