Court interpreting: Lords committee urges Mahmood to halt procurement process
For the past few weeks, the Lords’ public services committee has been taking oral evidence from representative bodies, government officials, interpreter groups and contractors on court interpreting and translation services. However, yesterday the committee revealed that it has asked lord chancellor Shabana Mahmood to halt the re-tendering process after identifying ‘serious concerns’.
Concerned about poor remuneration, the committee said the current tender ‘does not include a minimum pay rate for interpreters, which encourages companies to undercut each other in their bids through reducing these pay rates’.
The committee does not believe the new tender effectively addresses remuneration for cancelled bookings where interpreters are cancelled too late to take on other work. ‘This creates a situation where an interpreter might be booked for a full day or more, and may travel significant distances to complete it, only to be told when they arrive at court that the work is cancelled and they will only receive an hour’s pay,’ the letter says.
‘While the MOJ have indicated they are introducing a two-hour minimum payment, this does not adequately compensate interpreters whose multi-day bookings are cancelled at the last minute.'
The committee said the complaints service was 'not fit for purpose'. The inquiry had heard that barristers and solicitors were not made aware of how to submit complaints. 'Most concerningly, the processes to submit complaints are only available in English and Welsh, so the very people who need interpreting services to engage in court proceedings face a language barrier if they wish to complain about the service they have received,' the letter says.
The committee also highlighted concerns about quality assurance, performance data and transparency, the assessment of interpreters and published data in its letter.
Committee chair Baroness Morris of Yardley said: ‘There is nothing to be gained in continuing with this tender process without addressing the issues identified. Doing so would only result in locking in the existing problems for the extended period that any fresh contract will be in place. We urge the government to follow our recommendation and look forward to hearing how they will address the significant issues we’ve highlighted.’
The ministry told the Gazette the lord chancellor is considering the letter.
