UK Parliament Inquiry into the Interpreting and translation services in the courts - Oral evidence

https://committees.parliament.uk/event/22677/formal-meeting-oral-evidence-session/

18 December 2024- Interpreting and translation services in the courts – Oral evidence

Committee Public Services Committee

Inquiry Interpreting and translation services in the courts

Meeting details

At 11:00 am: Oral evidence

Inquiry Interpreting and translation services in the courts

Sarah Sackman MP Minister of State at Ministry of Justice

Daniel Flury Operations Director at HM Courts and Tribunals Service

Nick Goodwin Chief Executive at HM Courts and Tribunals Service

At 12:00pm: Private discussion

Inquiry Interpreting and translation services in the courts

 

Public Services Committee

Wednesday 18 December 2024 Meeting starts at 11.00 am

https://parliamentlive.tv/event/index/2ae08a79-616b-419b-8d9c-5a769831e5f5

Lords Committee to quiz Minister of State in Ministry of Justice on issues with the provision of interpreting and translation services in courts

https://www.parliament.uk/business/lords/media-centre/house-of-lords-media-notices/2024/december-2024/lords-committee-to-quiz-minister-of-state-in-ministry-of-justice-on-issues-with-the-provision-of-interpreting-and-translation-services-in-courts/

Monday 16 December 2024

Lords Committee to quiz Minister of State in Ministry of Justice on issues with the provision of interpreting and translation services in courts

On Wednesday 18 December, the House of Lords Public Services Committee will hold an evidence session with Sarah Sackman KC MP, Minister of State, Ministry of Justice in her first select committee appearance in her new role and senior officials from Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunal Service (HMCTS).

The session will explore the various issues highlighted to the Committee during its inquiry into interpreting and translation services in courts, with an aim to receiving initial comment or explanation from the Government as to how these issues will be addressed.
In addition, the Committee will be seeking responses from the Minister on the issues raised in its recent letter calling for a halt to the retendering process for the contract to supply interpreting and translation services in courts.
The session will start at 11.00am and can be watched live or on demand at Parliament TV or in person in Committee Room 3, Palace of Westminster.
The other witnesses in this session will be:

·        Nick Goodwin, Chief Executive Officer, HMCTS and;

·        Daniel Flurry, Operations Director, HMCTS.

Topics for discussion:

·        The current tendering process for interpreting and translation services in courts and issues identified with pursuing the current outsourcing of language services.

·        The quality of interpreting and translation services in courts.

·        Quality assurance processes and published data.

·        Challenges faced by the interpreting and translation workforce.

·        The role of technology in improving interpreting and translation services.

PQ: 6 December 2024

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2024-11-25.15898.h

Courts: Translation Services

Ministry of Justice written question – answered at on 6 December 2024.

Rupert Lowe Reform UK, Great Yarmouth

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, if she will make an estimate of the number of court cases that collapsed due to the lack of an available interpreter in (a) Great Yarmouth Magistrates Court and (b) England and Wales in the last 12 months.

Sarah Sackman The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice

The Ministry of Justice does not collate information regarding “collapsed trials” due to the lack of interpreter availability, but the Department does routinely publish data concerning ineffective trials including where the reason is “no interpreter available” as part of the Accredited Official Statistics series Criminal Court Statistics Quarterly. An ineffective trial is a trial that does not go ahead on the scheduled trial date and a further listing is required.

In response to the questions (a) and (b), we confirm the following, based on the above description:

1. There were five ineffective trials where the reason was “no interpreter available” at Great Yarmouth magistrates’ courts in 2023.

2. There were 556 ineffective trials where the reason was “no interpreter available” at all magistrates’ courts in England and Wales in 2023, this accounted for less than 1% of all listed trials in that period.

 

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2024-11-25.15892.h

Courts: Great Yarmouth

Ministry of Justice written question – answered at on 6 December 2024.

Rupert Lowe Reform UK, Great Yarmouth

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, in what proportion of Great Yarmouth Magistrates' Court cases has the defendant required a translator in each of the last 10 years.

Sarah Sackman The Minister of State, Ministry of Justice

The information requested could only be obtained at disproportionate cost.

 

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2024-10-04.7164.h

Ministry of Justice: Languages

Ministry of Justice written question – answered at on 6 December 2024.

Chris Hinchliff Labour, North East Hertfordshire

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, when she plans to publish the independent review of her Department’s language services.

Heidi Alexander The Secretary of State for Transport

We have been considering the findings of the independent review to help inform the development of new tender specifications. This is a complex process and covers a wide range of agencies within the Ministry of Justice. Once all internal governance has been completed the review will be released, we expect to publish the outcome by 31 December 2024.