Catalogue of failings in Home Office’s ‘flawed’ asylum system revealed in UN report

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/home-office-flawed-asylum-seekers-b2349038.html

31 May 2023

Catalogue of failings in Home Office’s ‘flawed’ asylum system revealed in UN report

A devastating catalogue of failings in the Home Office’s “flawed and inefficient” asylum system has been uncovered in a damning UN report.

The eight-month audit of the UK’s asylum system by the UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) picked apart the government’s immigration policy to reveal a deeply dysfunctional department.

The 200-page report found that children were wrongly detained as adults, trafficking victims were potentially missed, vulnerable people were locked up, and laws and government policies were violated. […]

The woman had requested an interpreter, but none was provided, and she struggled to recount the incident. […]

The report said he spoke to the woman in a different language without translation, “put his hand on her arm when she was preparing her answers” and when asked if she was safe in her accommodation, gave a “thumbs up” sign before the woman answered. […]

Asylum seeker’s request for interpreter refused

The UNHCR said in one observed interview where a claimant had asked for an interpreter, a Home Office official “refused on the basis that the claimant had come to the UK on a student visa which required knowledge of the English language and so she should not need one”.

The claimant explained that she felt uncomfortable continuing in English, and later “could not find the right word to describe an important detail”.

She said she had had difficulty understanding all the questions, but the official said it “would not matter”.

The asylum seeker’s request for an interpreter and concerns were not recorded, and a transcript falsely claimed that she answered “yes” to the unasked question: “Are you able to conduct an interview in English?”

Interpreters guiding interviewees

The UNHCR said it had also observed some interpreters taking a role “significantly beyond interpretation”, guiding asylum claimants, engaging in conversation with them without translating it for Home Office officials, and even arguing in some cases.

When one interpreter was meant to put a series of security questions to a man, they told him: “Answer ‘No’ to all these seven questions you have.” […]

https://www.unhcr.org/uk/news/press-releases/asylum-reforms-critical-addressing-current-challenges

Letter to Public Accounts & Justice Select Committees re: contract with TBW

Letter to Public Accounts & Justice Select Committees re: contractwith TBW.

Letter to the Justice Committee about the Procurement of Language Services for the Ministry of Justice

Letter to the Justice Committee about the Procurement of Language Services for the Ministry of Justice

https://www.parliament.uk/documents/commons-committees/Justice/correspondence/Letter-dated-25-April-2016-from-Shailesh-Vara-on-interpreting-and-translation-procurement.pdf
 

Official Government response to the Justice Select Committee report

Government Response to the Justice Committee’s Sixth Report of Session 2012-13:
Interpreting and translation services and the Applied Language Solutions contract 
http://www.official-documents.gov.uk/document/cm86/8600/8600.pdf

MPs publish report on interpreting and translation services and the Applied Language Solutions contract

http://www.parliament.uk/business/committees/committees-a-z/commons-select/justice-committee/news/interpreters-and-als-report/
6 February 2013

MPs publish report on interpreting and translation services and the Applied Language Solutions contract

The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) pushed ahead with outsourcing court interpreter services despite warnings that the quality of court language services would be reduced, an inquiry by the Justice Committee has found.

• Report: Interpreting and translation services and the Applied Language Solutions Contract (HTML)
• Report: Interpreting and translation services and the Applied Language Solutions Contract (PDF)
• Inquiry: Interpreting and tranlastion services and the Applied Language Solutions Contract
• Justice Committee

The Chair of the Committee, Sir Alan Beith MP, said:

“The Ministry of Justice’s handling of the outsourcing of court interpreting services has been nothing short of shambolic. It did not have an adequate understanding of the needs of courts, it failed to heed warnings from the professionals concerned, and it did not put sufficient safeguards in place to prevent interruptions in the provision of quality interpreting services to courts.”

Evidence strongly suggests that the MoJ did not have a sufficient understanding of the complexities of court interpreting work, according to the MPs. Significant concern was revealed in the MoJ’s consultation process that quality standards could be diminished by the imposition of a tiered system to enable a wider pool of interpreters, and by the introduction of lower levels of pay. However, the Department pushed ahead with the contract and failed to properly anticipate or address the potential for problems with Applied Language Solutions’ (ALS) capacity to deliver on its promises.

Sir Alan Beith MP added:

“The evidence shows that Capita-ALS failed to deliver on many aspects of the Agreement and did not implement appropriate safeguards to ensure that the interpreters it provided were of sufficient standard.”

When Capita (which acquired ALS for £7.5m in December 2011) began delivering interpreting and translation services to HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) in January 2012, it faced immediate operational difficulties. ALS and more recently Capita have been unable to recruit qualified and experienced interpreters in sufficient numbers, leading to an inadequate volume and quality of interpreting services being available to courts and tribunals.

Professional interpreters have largely boycotted the new arrangements; contributing to the difficulties in levels of fulfilment, but not entirely explaining them according to the report. Capita-ALS clearly needed significantly more resources than it had at its disposal to deliver the service levels required. The company also paid lip service to the regulatory duties accepted under the Framework Agreement, yet did not have the capacity to cope with complaints or to implement basic vetting procedures.

Performance has undoubtedly improved markedly but this has taken a long time to achieve and Capita is not yet being asked to supply interpreters to meet the full demand of HMCTS. The MoJ has had to monitor Capita-ALS very closely to secure the level of improvement necessary to make the Agreement workable, and continues to do so. The existing arrangements may not be financially sustainable as Capita is propping up the continuation of the Agreement, which mean that the Department’s savings, originally projected to be £15million, are effectively being secured at the company’s expense.

The most important priority is for the MoJ and Capita to prove that the Framework Agreement is capable of attracting, retaining and deploying an adequate number of qualified and competent interpreters to meet the requirements of the courts and other justice agencies.

The Committee has also condemned the actions taken by MoJ which had the effect of hampering the inquiry. HMCTS issued an edict to its staff instructing them not to participate in the Committee’s online consultation, established to invite direct observations from frontline staff of the performance of ALS. The Committee considers that the actions of the Ministry in this case may have constituted a contempt of the House, but as it received sufficient evidence from other sources to make a reliable judgement, it has not asked the House to take further action on this matter.

Sir Alan Beith MP said:

“We have made use of online forums in the past to obtain the views and experiences of staff in probation and prison services, without any obstruction by the Ministry. We received an abundance of evidence from other sources about the quality of court interpreting services, so we are confident in the conclusions we have reached, but we deplore the Ministry’s ill-advised actions and there should be no repetition of them in the future.”

Justice Committee - Sixth Report

Interpreting and translation services and the Applied Language Solutions contract

http://www.publications.parliament.uk/pa/cm201213/cmselect/cmjust/645/64502.htm