Antonia Coleman, part-time lecturer – Written evidence (ITS0038)

5) How easy is it to recruit and retain skilled interpreters and translators to work in the courts?

I. What opportunities, barriers and pitfalls exist and how might these be addressed?

Recruitment: it is hard to recruit because of

i)                   the high cost of taking a training course  (Online training course: £875)

ii)                the cost of the exam (DPSI exam: £755 (less than 50% pass all units first time round))

iii)              the cost of registration on the NRPSI (£252/year)

Even when an interpreter is fully qualified and registered, there is no guarantee of work. Most of the work is very poorly paid and can be sporadic.

At the University of Bath, we train our Masters students in legal public service interpreting. However, very few ever enter the field. Many young people have significant debts from their university courses and proportionately much higher housing costs than older people.

History

Up until 2012, when court interpreting work was outsourced (and agencies started keeping the lion’s share of the income), there were high numbers of interpreters attending training courses at the Institute of Linguists and sitting both the DPSI and the DPI.

The financial returns for most police and court interpreting dropped dramatically after 2012.

Retention: Interpreters who are qualified and registered on the NRPSI  may decide to continue to accept occasional interpreting jobs, but may well be forced to find alternative employment and have only limited availability.

Also, an interpreter who performs well is not rewarded in any way.

Addressing the problem

      Education for those involved in funding decisions. They need to understand that interpreting is a highly skilled job and the realities of being a freelance interpreter (large proportion of time spent on travel, inability to accept multiple bookings in one day there is often no finish time for an assignment).

      Reasonable minimum attendance payment of 2 or 3 hours so that it is worth the interpreter taking on the job.

      Proper remuneration for travel time. Interpreters cannot work while travelling.

      Subsidised courses for languages most in demand.

30 September 2024