11 April 2016 by Monidipa Fouzder
Renewed uncertainty over court interpreting
The future of courtroom interpreting is once again
uncertain following the current monopoly supplier’s decision to bid only for a
residual element of a new contract, the Gazette has learned.
Capita Translation and Interpreting, which has
never met its key performance target since taking over courtroom interpreting
services in England and Wales, is to bid for only one of four lots of a new
contract scheduled to begin on 31 October.
Capita TI currently provides full language services
in courts and tribunals under a framework agreement which aroused fierce
controversy when it came into effect in 2012. In line with the government’s
stated policy for public procurement, the successor contract has been broken
into four lots: face-to-face interpretation (1); written translation and
transcription (2); non-spoken language interpretation (3); and independent
quality assurance (4).
Capita has confirmed it is bidding only for lot 2,
written translation and transcription. This indicates that critical
face-to-face work could once again be given to a business with no recent track
record in the sector.
Representative group Professional Interpreters for
Justice said it understood that the other two bidders are thebigword and
TransPerfect.
Kevin Crowhurst, director of business development
at TransPerfect said it is ‘participating in the bid for lot 1’ and that the
company has 'many years of experience in UK courtroom interpreting'.
Thebigword did not reply to requests for comment.
Statistics published by the Ministry of Justice
show that Capita TI has continuously fallen short of the 98% performance target
stated in the contract. Latest figures published by the ministry show that
Capita TI completed 97% of requests for language services between July and
September 2015, the highest success rate since the contract started on 30
Janary 2012.
Professional Interpreters for Justice (PI4J) wrote
to Meg Hillier MP, chair of the Public Accounts Committee (PAC), on behalf of
several organisations, in February calling for an ‘impartial scrutiny’ of the
ministry’s procurement process.
The letter states: 'We need scarcely remind you of
the sad history of the MoJ Framework Agreement (FWA) for the provision of
language services from its inception in January 2012, which was the subject of
a PAC enquiry in 2012 and a number of hearings and reports.
'Sadly, the MoJ seems to have learned nothing from
this, and the procurement process for its replacement contract (not a
framework) commenced in the latter part of 2015.’
It continues: ‘We understand that in December the
MoJ determined a group of three candidates which would go forward from the PQQ
[pre-qualification questionnaire] stage to a competitive dialogue. This has
caused consternation for interpreters who, yet again, have been ignored.’
A spokesperson for the MoJ told the Gazette:
‘It would be inappropriate to discuss an ongoing procurement process. The
contract will be awarded following this formal procurement process.’
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