https://www.gov.uk/government/news/new-contracts-to-improve-language-services-across-courts-and-tribunals

5 October 2026

New contracts to improve language services across courts and tribunals

The contracts cover spoken language interpreting, British Sign Language (BSL), visual and tactile communication, and independent quality assurance.

The Ministry of Justice awarded the contracts following a robust procurement process. Existing supplier thebigword will continue to provide spoken language services in the first instance, while Translate UK becomes a new additional secondary spoken language supplier. Clarion UK will continue to provide visual and tactile communication services, and The Language Shop will continue to provide independent quality assurance.

The new contracts introduce several improvements designed to make the service more resilient and reduce the need for off-contract bookings.

Improvements for interpreters

The new contracts introduce a stronger onboarding process, including mandatory induction to the justice system, to help interpreters understand court procedures, professional expectations and the needs of court and tribunal users. Interpreters will also be able to opt out of particular types of cases where appropriate, recognising the demands of working with sensitive or distressing material.

The Language Shop will provide independent oversight and risk-based quality assessments, helping to identify and resolve issues sooner.

What this means for court and tribunal users

For people who use HMCTS services, the main benefit is fair and effective access to justice. Whether someone needs spoken language interpreting, BSL, or visual or tactile communication, they must be able to understand proceedings and to be understood. The new contracts are designed to make that support more consistent across all jurisdictions.

Improvements to face-to-face, video interpreting and other visual and tactile communication will continue to support effective understanding between users, judiciary, legal professionals and HMCTS staff, helping people take part fully in their case.

Interpreters, legal professionals and colleagues who use language services provided feedback that has informed the new arrangements. By combining that insight with clearer standards and independent assurance, HMCTS will be better placed to deliver a service that is responsive to users and supports hearings to run as planned.

 

Find out more on the HMCTS language services page.

https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/language-services

PQ: 28 September 2026

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2026-09-11.29096.h

Department for Work and Pensions: Translation Services

Department for Work and Pensions written question – answered at on 28 September 2026.

John Hayes Conservative, South Holland and The Deepings

To ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, how much his Department spent on interpreters and related translation services in 2025.

Lilian Greenwood The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Work and Pensions

The total contract costs from 1/1/25 – 1/1/26 are £12,109,032.

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2026

24 September 2026

Criminal court statistics quarterly: April to June 2026

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/criminal-court-statistics-quarterly-april-to-june-2026

PQ: 24 September 2026

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2026-09-10.28934.h

Asylum: Translation Services

Home Office written question – answered at on 24 September 2026.

 

Connor Rand Labour, Altrincham and Sale West

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department, what assessment her Department has made of the adequacy of the standard of service provided by translators working on asylum claims.

Anna Turley The Minister of State, Home Department

We are satisfied with the standard of service provided by translators working on asylum claims. All interpreters conducting an assignment for the Home Office must adhere to a strict Code of Conduct to maintain the integrity of the profession. The Code of Conduct sets out clear expectations around impartiality, and the standards of conduct and behaviour interpreters are required to meet.

PQ: 22 September 2026

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2026-09-11.29097.h

Ministry of Justice: Translation Services

Ministry of Justice written question – answered at on 22 September 2026.

John Hayes Conservative, South Holland and The Deepings

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much his Department spent on interpreters and related translation services in 2025.

Jake Richards The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice

The total spend by the Ministry of Justice on interpreters and related translation services during the 2025 calendar year was £41,945,961.34.

This figure includes expenditure on contracted spoken language interpreting (£30,127,536.45), non-spoken language interpreting (£1,849,519.44), translation and transcription (£2,988,335.45), and quality assurance services across the Ministry of Justice estate, including commissioning bodies (£524,692.00). It also includes off-contract language services expenditure incurred by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (£6,455,878.00). During the 2025 calendar year, more than 150,000 interpreter service requests were fulfilled across the Ministry of Justice estate.

"No interpreter available"

https://www.lep.co.uk/news/crime/man-moved-out-of-area-after-incident-which-sparked-school-lockdown-9088698

18^th September 2026

[…] ‘No interpreter available’

Reza appeared before Preston Magistrates last Thursday (September 10), but the CPS was unable to find an interpreter and it was determined that the case was not worth pursuing.

The charge was withdrawn and Reza was released from custody. Lancashire Police issued him with a community protection notice and the force said the 38-year-old has since moved out of the area.

A CPS Spokesperson said: “We recognise the concern caused by the behaviour reported outside a school.

“The defendant was charged with an offence that could only result in a fine or a discharge, and as he had already spent two days in police custody and he had no financial means, any fine was likely to have been offset by the time he had already spent in custody.

“Despite best efforts to secure an interpreter when the case was ready to be heard, none were available. In those circumstances, after careful consideration, we determined that the case could not continue.”

PQ: 8 September 2026

https://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2026-09-02.26776.h

Health Services: Interpreters

Department of Health and Social Care written question – answered at on 8 September 2026.

Rupert Lowe Restore Britain, Great Yarmouth

To ask the Secretary of State for Health and Social Care, how many NHS-funded interpreter bookings resulted in patient non-attendance in each of the last three years; and what steps her Department is taking to reduce costs arising from patient non-attendance where an interpreter has been booked.

 

Karin Smyth Minister of State (Department of Health and Social Care)

The requested information is not centrally held by the Department.

 

"an interpreter was not available for the hearing"

https://www.lincsonline.co.uk/spalding/news/new-court-date-for-flasher-who-exposed-himself-on-three-sepa-9478044/

11 August 2026

New court date for Lincoln flasher who exposed himself three times in Spalding

[…] However, his case at Lincoln Magistrates Court was adjourned until September as an interpreter was not available for the hearing.

 

Ireland: Courts Service considers implementing AI translators in bid to save money

https://www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-41886148.html

27 July 2026

Courts Service considers implementing AI translators in bid to save money

The Courts Service is considering implementing an AI translation service to save money and speed up hearings.

The service spends approximately €4m on translation and interpretation services annually.

The AI alternative is at a “proof-of-concept” stage, and the Courts Service says further “development and evaluation is required”.

Testing is underway “to measure accuracy”.

A digital audio recording AI assistant project has already passed initial testing and will be rolled out in a controlled deployment during September and October, “subject to readiness”.

At an Oireachtas committee on artificial intelligence, Courts Service chief information officer Owen Harrison previously said: “It is hoped that we will be able to give members of the judiciary and the courts options for moving cases along in respect of small procedural matters that need a translation capability in the room that is not immediately available and could otherwise lead to adjournments in order to bring back a person to get over that hurdle.

“A number of judges want to see whether we can do anything in this space.”

Courts Service CEO Angela Denning said Spain uses such technology “very effectively”. Singapore and Slovenia have speech-to-text technology available, she added.

Ms Denning said: “That type of thing would be of great assistance to court users and could save the system money through obviating the need to have

interpreters available for every small matter, for the procedural matters.

“For trials, we will still have our interpreters available, and indeed interpreters for the legal teams.”

Inspection of Border Force short-term holding facilities finds continuing legal and safeguarding failings

https://www.ein.org.uk/news/inspection-border-force-short-term-holding-facilities-finds-continuing-legal-and-safeguarding

17 July 2026

Inspection of Border Force short-term holding facilities finds continuing legal and safeguarding failings

[…] In one incident at Felixstowe highlighted in the report, a woman and her 18-month-old child were detained for over 22 hours in an inadequate facility and staff used Google Translate to communicate with her instead of professional telephone interpretation. "This included to serve documentation, conduct interviews, refuse entry and attempt removal, giving little assurance that the woman understood the process or her legal rights," HMI Prisons said. [...]

Read more here: https://cdn.websitebuilder.service.justice.gov.uk/uploads/sites/19/2026/07/Border-Force-STHFs-web-2026-1.pdf