27 Feb 2012
Translation Services
Justice
Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice
(1) what arrangements have been put into place to make up for problems with the provision of translators by Applied Language Solutions;
(2) whether he has asked Applied Language Solutions to provide qualifications and background for each of its translators;
(3) how many people were remanded in custody at bail hearings as a result of an interpreter not being available, in the last period for which figures are available.
Crispin Blunt (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Prisons and Probation), Justice; Reigate, Conservative)
The information is as follows:
(1) We are committed to ensuring the rights and needs of those who require interpreters are safeguarded and we have asked the contractor to take urgent steps to improve performance. In addition, as a short term measure, courts and tribunals have reverted to the old booking system for short-notice assignments.
(2) I have not requested this information. The contractor is obliged to ensure that the interpreters they use have appropriate qualifications, skills, experience and are appropriately vetted. Should any concerns arise about the quality, qualifications or background of individual interpreters there is a robust complaints mechanism.
(3) This information is not collected.
27 Feb 2012
Translation Services
Justice
Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how many times (a) Ministers, (b) special advisers and (c) civil servants in his Department have met (i) Mr Anthony Dixon and (ii) other directors of Applied Language Solutions.
Neither I nor my ministerial team in the Ministry of Justice have held meetings with directors of Applied Language Solutions. Special advisers in the Department have also not attended meetings with directors of Applied Language Solutions.
Ministry of Justice officials have met directors of Applied Language Solutions on a number of occasions since 3 November 2010 and continue to attend meetings with them. Initially this was part of the competitive dialogue process and following that to discuss the development of the Ministry of Justice framework agreement and contract.
27 Feb 2012
Applied Language Solutions
Justice
Andy Slaughter (Hammersmith, Labour)
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice
(1) when he was made aware of problems with the provision of translators to the courts service by Applied Language Solutions; and if he will make a statement;
(2) whether (a) he, (b) other Ministers in his Department and (c) officials in his Department had any involvement in the acquisition of Applied Language Solutions by Capita; and if he will make a statement;
(3) whether providers of interpretation and translation services to the courts are required to undertake Criminal Records Bureau (CRB) checks on their employees; and whether Applied Language Solutions undertakes CRB checks on its interpreters;
(4) what long-term measures he plans to implement to ensure that Applied Language Solutions provides qualified interpreters to the courts service.
Crispin Blunt (Parliamentary Under Secretary of State (Prisons and Probation), Justice; Reigate, Conservative)
The information is as follows.
(1) Ministers were made aware of difficulties with the service provided by Applied Language Solutions on 14 February 2012. We are committed to ensuring that the rights and needs of those who require interpreters are safeguarded and we have asked the contractor to take urgent steps to improve performance. I am receiving regular reports on progress.
(2) Neither the Secretary of State for Justice, nor Justice Ministers or Ministry of Justice officials had any involvement in the acquisition of ALS by Capita.
(3) The contractor is required to ensure appropriate Criminal Records Bureau checks are undertaken.
(4) The Ministry have made clear to the contractor that the problems must be addressed immediately. The contractor is taking urgent steps to improve performance including providing additional staff to deal with bookings, further targeted recruitment of interpreters in key languages and improvements to the call handling and complaints process. The Ministry is monitoring performance on a daily basis.
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