Councils should encourage immigrants to learn English instead of routinely translating documents into foreign languages, Ruth Kelly, the Communities Secretary, said yesterday. Ms Kelly said that translation had been used too frequently and could become a “crutch” that discouraged integration. The practice enabled new immigrants to avoid learning English when they first arrived, meaning that they never did, she said.

Ms Kelly said that there were cases – such as in a casualty ward – in which translation was necessary, but that learning and using the English language was key to helping migrants to integrate.

The minister will receive a report this week from the Commission on Integration and Cohesion, which was set up by her department. The commission focused on concerns that segregated communities have acted as a spawning ground for extremism.

Ms Kelly told the BBC that the commission would issue guidance to local authorities, leading them away from “routine” translation. It would then be used only in appropriate situations, such as emergency services. She said: “I think speaking the language is absolutely key. Something the commission looked at specifically is whether we should be translating from English into different languages as a matter of routine. They are going to put out guidance . . . where local authorities can ask really hard questions about whether or not we are providing a crutch and supporting people in their difference, or whether translation is being used in the appropriate circumstances.”

She added: “I do think translation has been used too frequently and sometimes without thought to the consequences. So, for example, it’s quite possible for someone to come here from Pakistan or elsewhere in the world and find that materials are routinely translated into their mother tongue, and therefore not have the incentive to learn the language.”

Other ideas discussed by the commission include some compulsory national or community service. Ms Kelly praised voluntary community services but said that there were “real practical issues” with making it compulsory.

Ms Kelly spoke as Hazel Blears, the Labour party chairman, was accused of stereotyping immigrants after suggesting that the public associated them with antisocial behaviour. Ms Blears, a candidate for the deputy leadership of the party, expressed concern that people in her Salford constituency were “worried” about changes in the community.

“We have got areas in Salford where private landlords are letting properties with 10 and 12 people in there,” she said. “Now, the community doesn’t object to the people – they object to the exploitation and the fact that that leads to people being on the street drinking, antisocial behaviour.

“They object if they are undercutting wages and not getting the national minimum wage and they are not abiding by health and safety, so you have got to enforce the law.”

Her comments, in an interview with The Independent on Sunday, prompted David Davis, the Shadow Home Secretary, to blame her for public concerns. “It is wholly irresponsible for Ministers of the Crown to stereotype any group,” he said. “If anybody is responsible for the concerns about immigration – on housing, education or indeed community relations – it is a Government that, while Hazel Blears was a Home Office Minister, allowed 600,000 immigrants to enter the country in one year.”

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