Cumbrian court interpreters protest at shake-up

http://www.newsandstar.co.uk/news/cumbrian-court-interpreters-protest-at-shake-up-1.868350?referrerPath=news
16 August 2011

Cumbrian court interpreters protest at shake-up

Interpreters in Cumbria will travel to Manchester next week to take part in a protest over plans to contract with one supplier to provide language services at courts and tribunals.

Manchester-based Applied Language Solutions (ALS) was selected by the Ministry of Justice for the contract to provide the services and a judicial review is being considered against that decision.

Many independent interpreters say they do not want to be agency workers and fear standards will be lowered with cuts in pay and fewer security safeguards leading to miscarriages of justice.

They also fear the change will lead to a drop in interpreting quality.

Guillermo Makin, of the Society for Public Service Interpreting Ltd, said: “When and if a misguided Ministry of Justice (MoJ) project is decided on, and interpreters are hoping in the interest of justice they are not, interpreting services will be farmed out to a private monopoly that will also regulate the profession.

“Interpreter organisations have repeatedly offered the Ministry of Justice a plan in writing that would not increase expenditure but would cut it. There is a precedent.

“Working in collaboration with Cambridgeshire Police, interpreter organisations have helped Cambridgeshire Police save 30 per cent in the last financial year.

“The ill-thought out MoJ scheme will also destroy an asset, the National Register of Public Service Interpreters, (NRPSI) the independent regulator that the 2010 EU directive the UK has signed up to mandates.

“Our cost analysis indicates that instead of achieving savings the scheme without taking lost trials and appeals into account would push spending from £40m to £60m up to £95m.”

Mr Makin says the SPSI would offer a call service that would save police time searching for available interpreters.

Polish translator Mateusz Kiecz, who contacted the News & Star, said: “A lot of professional and experiences linguists around the country are now gathering for walkouts to protest against this contract as it will have detrimental effect on delivery of justice for minorities.

“It could lead to inexperienced and unqualified people working within the delicate environment as the Criminal Justice System.

A spokeswoman for the MoJ said: “Interpreters and translators provide a vital service, ensuring speakers of all languages have equal access to justice.

“The Government is committed to maintaining the high quality of these services, but believes the same level of service can be achieved for less.

“We are in the process of finalising a framework agreement with a commercial provider, which will streamline the system of sourcing and booking an interpreter, saving money and staff time. We are working to ensure all cases are heard efficiently.”

But many independent interpreters say they do not want to be agency workers and fear standards will be lowered with cuts in pay and fewer security safeguards leading to miscarriages of justice.

ALS says the centralisation of bookings makes it possible to “efficiently and fairly distribute the work available for each language in a given region.”

The protest, similar to one held in Bradford last week, will take place in front of Manchester Asylum and Immigration Tribunal in Piccadilly Plaza on Monday at 10am.