14 May 2013
Capita contract for
court interpreters veers towards ‘collapse’
Courts
in disarray as translators refuse to work after Capita slashes travel expenses
Interpreters
are warning that the huge private contract to provide translation services for
courts in England and Wales is on the brink of collapse.
It
comes as court interpreters told Exaro that they are refusing to work after
Capita, the outsourcing giant that took over the contract, slashed their travel
expenses. Hearings are being held up as court officials scramble to find any
interpreters prepared to step in to take up the work.
Geoffrey
Buckingham, chairman of the Association of Police and Court Interpreters, told
Exaro that he believes the contract faced “collapse”.
Capita
was putting pressure on the Ministry of Justice to increase its payment for
services, he said. “I think that could be the last-gasp action on the part of
Capita on this contract.”
At
Nottingham Crown Court last Friday, a judge was forced to adjourn a hearing for
a case in which a Chinese businessman is accused of stabbing a family of four to
death.
He
said that Capita had indicated that it was not worth sending an interpreter to
the hearing because it “would not make enough money” from it. The judge, Mr
Justice Julian Flaux, described it as “an absolute disgrace”.
“To
say that the presiding judge of the court is annoyed about this is an
understatement,” he added.
A
spokeswoman for Capita said that it tried to find a replacement after the
original interpreter was unable to go. “Capita at no time refused to arrange an
interpreter to attend Nottingham Crown Court on cost or any other grounds,” she
said.
She
denied that the contract was on the brink of collapse, saying: “There is no
truth in that whatsoever.”
Problems
surrounding the contract triggered an investigation by the House of Commons justice
committee.
Exaro
revealed an e-mail sent by a senior official at the Ministry of Justice that
instructed employees at HM Courts & Tribunals Service not to give evidence
to MPs for the inquiry.
Last
November, Exaro also disclosed how the was blocking magistrates from supplying
crucial data to the MPs.
As
a result, the committee suggested in a damning report in February that the
Ministry of Justice was in “contempt” for hampering its investigation.
The
latest row to hit the contract is over a clampdown on travel expenses from the
beginning of this month. Interpreters say that it is not worth their while to
turn up at court.
Under
the new rules, they are paid 20p a mile for travelling to and from court
regardless of mode of transport. This is despite the fact that they often have
to travel large distances to attend hearings.
Capita
pays interpreters between £16 and £22 per hour for the time they spend at
court.
Madeleine
Lee, a Dutch translator and a member of the campaign group, Professional
Interpreters for Justice, claimed that court interpreters are, in effect, being
paid less than the minimum wage because they might spend two hours travelling
for 60 minutes of work.
She
said that many interpreters were already refusing to work in courts for Capita,
and more have joined them because of the cutting back of travel expenses.
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