Translation Services

(asked on 10th July 2019) - View Source

Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much HM Courts and Tribunals Service has spent on (a) courts translation services and (b) Capita Translation Services in each of the last 10 financial years.


Answered by
Paul Maynard Portrait
Paul Maynard
Parliamentary Under-Secretary (Department for Work and Pensions)
This question was answered on 15th July 2019

HMCTS was created on the 1 April 2011. We are unable to provide information for financial years prior to that date. This question has been interpreted to mean costs for all language services, both translators, and interpreters provided in a court setting, and for printed materials available in HMCTS buildings.

The contract with Capita commenced on 30th January 2012, and ended on 30th October 2016. The new Language Services Contracts commenced on the 31st October 2016, with services provided by thebigword Group Limited, Clarion Interpreting and The Language Shop.

The spend by Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service on courts translations services was as follows, by financial year:

Year

Total Cost (£)

Capita Charges (£)

2011-12 (Commenced from 30th January 2012)

7,080,332

1,440

2012-13

4,955,510

1,083,181

2013-14

7,305,324

6,501,870

2014-15

7,431,045

7,182,866

2015-16

7,111,949

6,548,023

2016-17

9,683,794

4,264,196

Our most recent statistics show language service requests are at their highest since the new contract was introduced in 2016 the clear majority – 97% - were fulfilled. It is vital that victims, witnesses and defendants understand what is happening in court to ensure justice is done, and we will always take steps to ensure a qualified interpreter is provided when needed.

Reticulating Splines