Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many trials have been fully adjourned due to contractors failing to deliver prisoners to trial in each region in 2025.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We have interpreted your question to mean ineffective trials that do not start on their intended start date and need rescheduling. Trials can become ineffective for many reasons – due to the action or inaction of the parties or the courts. Delays or failures to bring prisoners to court are one such reason.
Data on trial effectiveness at the criminal courts is published by region and reason, including “14. Ineffective reason: Defendant not produced by prisoner escort custody services” (although it should be noted that this may not have been as a direct result of PECS supplier failure). This data can be found here: https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/media/67e29a65d4a1b0665b8ee201/trials_tool.xlsx.
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what comparative estimate she has made of the cost to the public purse of (a) off-contract bookings and (b) contract-based interpreter services.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We do not hold spend data for each region. Total annual spend across all 4 language services contracts, with % increases have been calculated and set out below:
Year | Total | Year on Year % increase | Total Growth (since 2020) | Sitting Days (Financial Year) |
2020 | £20,217,548.09 | - | - | 2020/21 – 199,200 |
2021 | £25,062,618.71 | 24% | 24% | 2021/22 – 559,888 |
2022 | £26,883,747.04 | 7% | 33% | 2022/23 – Over 565,000 |
2023 | £30,374,050.44 | 13% | 50% | 2023/24 – Over 580,000 |
2024 | £31,625,158.35 | 4% | 56% | 2024/25 - TBC |
Off-contract spend:
Year | Total |
2020 | £1,193,788 |
2021 | £2,157,759 |
2022 | £4,856,616 |
2023 | £6,565,781 |
2024 | £7,037,731 |
The use of off-contract is typically to cover requirements that arise at short notice and those that are more challenging to fulfil, such as the requirement for languages that are rare or scarce, and as such are more expensive to source. The use of off-contract interpreters allows hearings to go ahead, to continue the delivery of justice.
The next generation of contracts, currently being procured, includes the use of a secondary supplier of interpreters, specifically to source those short notice bookings, and to bring this spend on-contract, with benefits such as improved data and value for money.
Performance levels can be accessed via the Published statistics, which can be found at: Criminal court statistics - GOV.UK
Comparison (2020–2024)
Year | On-Contract Spend (£) | Off-Contract Spend (£) | Total Spend (£) | % On-Contract | % Off-Contract |
2020 | £20,217,548 | £1,193,788 | £21,411,336 | 94.4% | 5.6% |
2021 | £25,062,619 | £2,157,759 | £27,220,378 | 92.1% | 7.9% |
2022 | £26,883,747 | £4,856,616 | £31,740,363 | 84.7% | 15.3% |
2023 | £30,374,050 | £6,565,781 | £36,939,831 | 82.2% | 17.8% |
2024 | £31,625,158 | £7,037,731 | £38,662,889 | 81.8% | 18.2% |
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the increase in court translator costs in each region in England and Wales in the last five year.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We do not hold spend data for each region. Total annual spend across all 4 language services contracts, with % increases have been calculated and set out below:
Year | Total | Year on Year % increase | Total Growth (since 2020) | Sitting Days (Financial Year) |
2020 | £20,217,548.09 | - | - | 2020/21 – 199,200 |
2021 | £25,062,618.71 | 24% | 24% | 2021/22 – 559,888 |
2022 | £26,883,747.04 | 7% | 33% | 2022/23 – Over 565,000 |
2023 | £30,374,050.44 | 13% | 50% | 2023/24 – Over 580,000 |
2024 | £31,625,158.35 | 4% | 56% | 2024/25 - TBC |
Off-contract spend:
Year | Total |
2020 | £1,193,788 |
2021 | £2,157,759 |
2022 | £4,856,616 |
2023 | £6,565,781 |
2024 | £7,037,731 |
The use of off-contract is typically to cover requirements that arise at short notice and those that are more challenging to fulfil, such as the requirement for languages that are rare or scarce, and as such are more expensive to source. The use of off-contract interpreters allows hearings to go ahead, to continue the delivery of justice.
The next generation of contracts, currently being procured, includes the use of a secondary supplier of interpreters, specifically to source those short notice bookings, and to bring this spend on-contract, with benefits such as improved data and value for money.
Performance levels can be accessed via the Published statistics, which can be found at: Criminal court statistics - GOV.UK
Comparison (2020–2024)
Year | On-Contract Spend (£) | Off-Contract Spend (£) | Total Spend (£) | % On-Contract | % Off-Contract |
2020 | £20,217,548 | £1,193,788 | £21,411,336 | 94.4% | 5.6% |
2021 | £25,062,619 | £2,157,759 | £27,220,378 | 92.1% | 7.9% |
2022 | £26,883,747 | £4,856,616 | £31,740,363 | 84.7% | 15.3% |
2023 | £30,374,050 | £6,565,781 | £36,939,831 | 82.2% | 17.8% |
2024 | £31,625,158 | £7,037,731 | £38,662,889 | 81.8% | 18.2% |
Asked by: Shockat Adam (Independent - Leicester South)
Question to the Ministry of Justice:
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what estimate she has made of the cost of off-contract bookings for interpreter bookings in the last five years.
Answered by Sarah Sackman - Minister of State (Ministry of Justice)
We do not hold spend data for each region. Total annual spend across all 4 language services contracts, with % increases have been calculated and set out below:
Year | Total | Year on Year % increase | Total Growth (since 2020) | Sitting Days (Financial Year) |
2020 | £20,217,548.09 | - | - | 2020/21 – 199,200 |
2021 | £25,062,618.71 | 24% | 24% | 2021/22 – 559,888 |
2022 | £26,883,747.04 | 7% | 33% | 2022/23 – Over 565,000 |
2023 | £30,374,050.44 | 13% | 50% | 2023/24 – Over 580,000 |
2024 | £31,625,158.35 | 4% | 56% | 2024/25 - TBC |
Off-contract spend:
Year | Total |
2020 | £1,193,788 |
2021 | £2,157,759 |
2022 | £4,856,616 |
2023 | £6,565,781 |
2024 | £7,037,731 |
The use of off-contract is typically to cover requirements that arise at short notice and those that are more challenging to fulfil, such as the requirement for languages that are rare or scarce, and as such are more expensive to source. The use of off-contract interpreters allows hearings to go ahead, to continue the delivery of justice.
The next generation of contracts, currently being procured, includes the use of a secondary supplier of interpreters, specifically to source those short notice bookings, and to bring this spend on-contract, with benefits such as improved data and value for money.
Performance levels can be accessed via the Published statistics, which can be found at: Criminal court statistics - GOV.UK
Comparison (2020–2024)
Year | On-Contract Spend (£) | Off-Contract Spend (£) | Total Spend (£) | % On-Contract | % Off-Contract |
2020 | £20,217,548 | £1,193,788 | £21,411,336 | 94.4% | 5.6% |
2021 | £25,062,619 | £2,157,759 | £27,220,378 | 92.1% | 7.9% |
2022 | £26,883,747 | £4,856,616 | £31,740,363 | 84.7% | 15.3% |
2023 | £30,374,050 | £6,565,781 | £36,939,831 | 82.2% | 17.8% |
2024 | £31,625,158 | £7,037,731 | £38,662,889 | 81.8% | 18.2% |