PQ - 3 May 2016

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2016-04-18.HL7734.h

Courts: Interpreters

Ministry of Justice written question – answered on 3rd May 2016.

Baroness Coussins Crossbench

To ask Her Majesty’s Government how many court cases have had to be rescheduled in each of the last five years because of problems with the interpreting or translating services required; and what was the additional cost incurred in each year as a result of such rescheduling.

Lord Faulks The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice

Information on the number of trials listed in the criminal courts which were adjourned (ineffective) due to interpreter availability is published in Criminal Court Statistics; the relevant extract is set out below.

	Crown Courts			Magistrates’ Courts
Year	Number of trials	Adjourned due to interpreter availability	% of trials adjourned due to interpreter availability	Number of trials	Adjourned due to interpreter availability	% of trials adjourned due to interpreter availability
2011	41,412	17	0.0%	166,808	327	0.2%
2012	38,432	34	0.1%	156,671	608	0.4%
2013	33,669	37	0.1%	155,087	591	0.4%
2014	35,974	26	0.1%	158,984	524	0.3%
2015	39,036	23	0.1%	162,668	474	0.3%

Associated costs for rescheduling such cases are not recorded.

The department continues to monitor the language services contract closely and work with the supplier to further drive improvements and reduce the cost on the taxpayer.