PQ: 21st May 2021

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2021-05-12.899.h

 

Ministry of Justice: Interpreters

Ministry of Justice written question – answered on 21st May 2021.

 

Apsana Begum Labour, Poplar and Limehouse

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, who provides the specific training course for interpreters to join his Department's register; whether that course is endorsed by a professional body; and whether the course content is standardised regardless of previous qualifications.

 

Apsana Begum Labour, Poplar and Limehouse

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how many hours of experience is demanded as a minimum by his Department's Register for those who are (a) Level 1 public service interpreting (PSI) qualified, (b) Level 2 PSI qualified, (c) Level 3 PSI qualified, (d) Level 4 PSI qualified, (e) those without any form of public service qualification but who have degree level qualifications in other disciplines such as philology and linguistics and (f) Level 6 PSI qualified.

 

Apsana Begum Labour, Poplar and Limehouse

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, with reference to the Answer of 19 April 2021 to Question 176073, of the 59 who failed spot checks conducted since 1st January 2019 by The Language Shop; what level of qualification did those 59 people have which enabled them to appear on the MoJ register prior to those spot checks.

 

Chris Philp The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department

The Ministry of Justice (MOJ) is committed to ensuring the justice system is supported by a suite of high- quality language service contracts, that meet the needs of all those who require interpreters.

The MOJ does not directly employ interpreters. The MOJ commissions the services of suitably qualified interpreters through its contracted service providers, thebigword and Clarion Interpreting.

All interpreters regardless of qualifications are required to complete an induction programme. This is not an accredited piece of learning. It was created by the MOJ and The International School of Linguists (ISL) and is hosted by ISL for thebigword to meet the requirements of the MOJ.

The hours of experience required varies according to the complexity and type of language. This information is set out and can be found in the contract via the following link

https://www.contractsfinder.service.gov.uk/Notice/975cb99e-fec6-430f-8f31-fd532a907137?p=@=UFQxblRRPT0=NjJNT08

A table showing the hours of experience required by qualification can be found below:

Qualifications	Experience required	Complexity level
Enrolled on a Level 1, two-to-four week, course	100 hours of Interpretation Services in the relevant language	Standard
Level 1 public service interpreting (PSI) qualified	No minimum hours required	Standard
Level 2 PSI qualified	No minimum hours required	Standard
Level 3 PSI qualified	No minimum hours required	Standard
Level 4 PSI qualified	No minimum hours required	Standard
Those without any form of public service qualification but have degree level qualifications in other disciplines such as philology and linguistics	100 hours of Interpretation Services in the relevant language	Complex
Level 6 PSI qualified	No minimum hours required	Complex / Complex Written (DPSI Health & Lov Govt although Level 6, are only authorised for Complex; DPSI Law, DPI (Diploma in Police Interpreting) & DCI (Diploma in Community Interpreting ISL) are Complex Written)

 

Of the 59 language professionals who failed spot checks, three of the language professionals had two checks for different languages, so we have provided 62 results. Below is a table which breaks down the level of qualification the language professionals had to enable them to appear on the register prior to the spot checks.

 

Qualification Level	Number of language professionals
Level 3	2
Level 6	39
Level 7	5
Basic interpreting, rare language or Partial qualification	16