10 February 2015
Courts:
Translation Services
Ministry
of Justice
Jim Shannon Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Health)
To
ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what steps he is taking to reduce
translation and interpretation costs in the courts.
Shailesh Vara The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice
The
Department provides interpreters in compliance with its international
obligations to ensure that trials are fair.
Following
a competitive process, the Department entered into a contract for language
services which went live on 30th January 2012. The 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 spent £27m less in the
first two years it was running.
The
contract remains on target to achieve the forecasted savings over its whole
life term.
We
will of course continue work to further drive improvements in performance and
to reduce the burden on taxpayers.
10 February 2015
Translation
Services
Department
for Work and Pensions
Jim Shannon Shadow DUP Spokesperson (Health)
To
ask the Secretary of State for Work and Pensions, what steps he is taking to
reduce translation and interpretation costs in benefit offices.
Esther McVey Minister of State (Department for Work and Pensions)
From
April 2014, DWP has not offered
Interpreters as a matter of routine to new Jobseeker Allowance (JSA) claimants.
There is an expectation that all new JSA claimants will have a level of English
which enables them to compete and be successful in the UK labour market. JSA
claimants are encouraged to use friends and family as interpreters if this is
appropriate.
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