PQ - 20 January 2015

http://www.theyworkforyou.com/wrans/?id=2014-12-18.219496.h

20 Jan 2015

Prisons: Interpreters

Ministry of Justice

Jim Cunningham (Coventry South, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, how much was spent on professional interpretation services by each prison in England and Wales in 2012; and on how many occasions such interpretation services were used in each prison in 2012.

Jim Cunningham (Coventry South, Labour)

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what the percentage success rate was under the Capita Translation and Interpreting contract in each month from 12 January to 14 March 2014.

Andrew Selous (The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Assistant Whip (HM Treasury); South West Bedfordshire, Conservative)

The percentage success rates for the Capita Translation and Interpreting contract are published and can be found using the below link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/statistics/statistics-on-the-use-of-language-services-in-courts-and-tribunals-january-2012-december-2013

Please find below a table showing the number of assignments and total spend in 2012 in each prison on professional interpretation through the MoJ Language Services Contract with Capita Translation and Interpreting.

Prison	Spend 2012	Number of assignments
HMP Nottingham	£317.77	3
HMP Nottingham	£162.76	2
HMP Ranby	£155.01	1
HMP Stocken	£94.24	1
HMP Sudbury	£668.23	4
HMP The Mount	£69.75	1
HMP Wellingborough	£223.50	2
HMPYOI Foston Hall	£72.32	1
IRC Morton Hall	£36.25	1
HMP Whatton	£37,893.56	135
MoJ Shared Services	£4,635.61	26
HMP Bure	£153.01	2
HMP Highpoint	£33.58	1
HMP Usk and Prescoed	£1,855.39	14
HMP North Sea Camp	£253.73	2
HMP Norwich	£38.67	1
HMPYOI Warren Hill	£62.00	1
HMYOI Chelmsford	£411.12	6
HMP Belmarsh	£144.99	1
HMP Brixton	£136.92	3
HMP Pentoville	£403.03	1
HMP Wandsworth	£33,777.91	103
HMYOI Feltham	£31.00	1
HMP Frankland	£62.00	1
HMP Holme House	£86.99	1
HMP Garth	£155.16	2
HMP Liverpool	£654.32	9
HMP Manchester	£1,177.93	6
HMP Manchester	£1,018.55	5
HMP Preston	£33.59	1
HMPYOI Hindley	£217.66	6
HMYOI Styal	£109.07	2
HMP Swaleside	£496.04	2
HMPYOI Downview	£130.49	1
HMPYOI Reading	£4,610.72	28
HMYOI Cookham Wood	£58.00	1
HMP Send	£129.17	2
HMP Channings Wood	£124.01	1
HMP Levhill	£293.45	5
HMP Shepton Mallet	£158.99	1
HMP The Verne	£94.24	1
HMP Hewell	£114.17	3
HMP Long Lartin	£5,320.39	23
HMPYOI Brinsford	£493.54	3
HMYOI Werrington	£86.99	1
HMP Leeds	£607.58	2
HMP Lindholme	£485.88	5
HMP Wakefield	£38.75	1
HMPYOI Askham Grange	£48.33	1
HMPYOI Moorland	£1,363.14	9
HMPYOI New Hall	£3,182.58	16
Total	£102,982.08	452

Interpreters used by the Prison Service are self employed, freelance booked and sourced via the Capita-TI contract. Each assignment constitutes a separate individual booking which can range from one hour to a few days dependent upon the requirement. The value of spend and number of assignments for HMP Wandsworth and HMP Whatton are due to the requirement for a British Sign Language interpreter for a 6 month period in each facility to aid a member of prison service staff with access to work. This requirement, whilst initially paid for by HMPS, was reimbursed by the Department of Work and Pensions.

The interpreting contract was introduced to tackle the inefficiencies and inconsistencies in the previous system. The contract has delivered significant improvements so far and we now have a system that is robust, sustainable and able to deliver a quality service at an affordable level. As a result of the contract, we have spent £27m less in the first two years it has been running, and it continues to reduce the burden on taxpayers.