24 June 2013 by Catherine Baksi
MPs demand an end to
interpreters contract
A parliamentary debate last week heard calls for
the ‘shambolic’ court interpreters contract to be scrapped, as the service
continues to miss performance targets.
During a debate on the Commons Justice Committee’s
damning report on the contract, shadow justice minister Andy Slaughter cited a
press report about a Lithuanian interpreter who admitted that she routinely
advises defendants to ‘tell the truth about how everything happened’.
Interpreters are forbidden to advise those for whom
they interpret.
MPs voiced concern that the contract is ‘seriously
damaging’ the administration of justice and warned that the predicted £15m
savings are ‘seriously at risk’ due to the cost of delayed trials.
As the government seeks to procure large contracts
for rehabilitation, prisons and criminal legal aid services, committee chair
Sir Alan Beith MP warned there would be a ‘multiple train crash’ if the
failings of the relatively small interpreting contract were repeated.
Justice minister Helen Grant accepted there had
been ‘teething problems’ at the start of the contract, but said performance was
now at 90%, against a 98% target, and there was no need to consider suspending
or revoking the contract.
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