No Somali interpreter

http://www.thisisleicestershire.co.uk/Shut-cafe-reopen/story-19734766-detail/story.html#axzz2dYcuKyDB 
31 August 2013
[...] "The hearing was adjourned until September 6 to ensure the presence of a court authorised Somali interpreter." [...]

Privatised justice and erosion of democracy in the UK

http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/michael-turner/privatised-justice-and-erosion-of-democracy-in-uk 
27 August 2013 by Michael Turner QC

Privatised justice and erosion of democracy in the UK

Justice minister Chris Grayling, having learnt precisely nothing from having the tax payers’ hands bitten by G4S and Serco over the tagging contracts, has handed the new contracts to: Capita, Telefonica, Astrium and Buddi.

I can not tell you much about three of those companies but Capita we know of old. They took over the court translating and transcribing contract and have cost the taxpayer fortunes by often not providing translators at all or if they do, ones not able to speak the language of the defendant or the court. Not surprising really, since 81 per cent of professional translators have refused to sign up to their service, due to the appalling pay and conditions offered to them. Capita’s slice of the tagging cake is £400 million over six years.

A source asked me to look at their translation and interpreting arm accounts for 2012 and interesting reading they make too. How, you might like too ask, does a company with a turnover of £21,138,244 make an operating loss of £15,004,222?

Well, it appears quite simple really. Your administrative expenses more than triple from the previous year to £9,337,657. You find an onerous contract expense of £6,270,810 for software development. Then you find you have creditor amounts of £16,607,703, £12,102,384 of which is owed to a wholly owned subsidiary registered in the USA and you need to make a £6,508,409 provision for future liabilities. Oh dear, Mr Grayling, no tax revenue coming your way again.

Read more here: http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/michael-turner/privatised-justice-and-erosion-of-democracy-in-uk

‘Onerous’ courts interpretation contract hits Capita profits

http://www.lawgazette.co.uk/law/areas-of-law/onerous-courts-interpretation-contract-hits-capita-profits/5037111.article 
22 August 2013 by Kathleen Hall

‘Onerous’ courts interpretation contract hits Capita profits

Profits plummeted at Capita Translation and Interpreting after taking on the ‘onerous’ £15m courts interpretation contract last year, the company has revealed.

The company’s turnover increased from £6.8m for the last seven months of 2011 to £21.1m over the full-year of 2012. However, gross profits fell from £2m to £600,000 over the same period. Operating costs also increased from £1.6m to £15m.

‘The increase in turnover and operating loss is due to the onerous courts interpretation which commenced in early 2012,’ says the company in the directors’ report for the year ending 31 December 2012.

Madeleine Lee, director of the Professional Interpreters’ Alliance, an umbrella group of interpreters’ organisations that oppose the contract, said the loss reflects poor management. ‘The entire premise of the bid was too low and undeliverable,’ she said.

A Capita spokeswoman said: ‘Capita Translation and Interpreting has invested significantly in the Ministry of Justice contract to enable it to deliver the high standard of service which the MoJ and the court system expects. We therefore never expected to make a profit in the first year of the contract.’

Capita has also been named as a preferred bidder for the MoJ’s electronic tagging contract, in a deal that will create £400m in revenue for the company over six years.

The MoJ has increased spend significantly with Capita since 2010/11, from £3.9m to £25m in 2011/12.

No Kurdish interpreter

http://www.gloucestercitizen.co.uk/Men-admit-bootlegging-cigarettes-Big-Yellow/story-19691560-detail/story.html 
22 August 2013

[…] "Ahmed, and co-defendant Ali Ahmed of Magdala Road, Coventry, will return to court once a Kurdish interpreter is available to hear charges relating to the Big Yellow find. Both men were granted conditional bail." […]

Consultation: Revised PACE codes of practice C and H

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/revised-pace-codes-of-practice-c-and-h 
Open consultation

Revised PACE codes of practice: C and H
This consultation concerns the treatment of 17-year-olds in police custody and the translation and interpretation of essential documents for non-English speaking detainees. 

EU Directive 2010/64 
The EU Directive came into force on 20 October 2010 and is required to be implemented in UK law by 27 October 2013. To comply with the directive, the changes include a new requirement for suspects to be provided with a written translation of certain ‘essential’ documents. Such documents are those concerning decisions to deprive a person of their liberty by keeping them in police custody and documents which set out any offence for which they are charged or reported. 
A number of other minor changes have been made in the interests of legal accuracy and to reflect current practice.

This consultation closes on 25 September 2013

More here: https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/revised-pace-codes-of-practice-c-and-h