Asylum Seekers
House of Lords written question – answered on 21st
November 2011.
Lord
Hylton Crossbench
To ask Her Majesty's
Government whether the new system for providing interpreters and translators
yet applies to the UK Border Agency (a) in respect of initial and substantive interviews
for asylum seekers with inadequate command of English, and (b) for oral
hearings before asylum and immigration courts or tribunals; if not, when they
expect it to do so; and whether they will keep the quality of interpretation
under review.
Lord
Henley The Minister of State, Home Department
Although the Home Office
has awarded the contract for face-to-face interpreting services to thebigword,
the UK Border Agency is not using the contract for the provision of interpreter
services for asylum interviews. The UK Border Agency will review this position
in the next financial year and will continue to monitor the quality of the
interpretation service that it provides to asylum seekers.
Interpreters for asylum and
immigration tribunals are booked by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS).
New arrangements for the provision of interpreters and translators services to
HMCTS are to be introduced soon under a Ministry of Justice framework
agreement.
No comments:
Post a Comment