PCS written evidence to the House of Lords Public Services Committee (ITS0076)
Interpreting and translation services in the courts
1. The Public and Commercial Services union (PCS) is the largest trade union in the civil service, representing around 190,000 members. We represent workers throughout the civil service and government agencies. These include staff that work in Her Majesty’s Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and the Crown Prosecution Service (CPS). They undertake all the key duties in the full range of posts necessary for the courts and tribunals to operate. They provide services for all courts and tribunals from Magistrates’ Courts to the Appeal courts and the Probate Service.
2. We welcome the committee’s timely inquiry into interpreting and translation services in the courts and would be happy to supplement this submission with oral evidence.
3. The Ministry of Justice (MoJ) currently outsources all of its face-to-face and telephone interpreting support along with translation and transcription services to global conglomerate ‘thebigword’.
4. In procuring this contract, we believe that the MoJ has failed to learn any lessons from its failed procurement of the Capita Applied Language Solutions contract. It fails to demonstrate any understanding of how courts work (a common MoJ failing) or the complexity of interpreting needs. This together with its use of tiering, a mechanism to pay as little as possible for the device means that interpreters do not attend when booked, are frequently double-booked or booked for an insufficient time to meet the needs of the court. It is not uncommon to find interpreters booked for two different cases morning and afternoon in different courts in different parts of the country.
5. The following examples represent no more than a snapshot of recent failures:
a) Earlier this year a Tamil interpreter was booked through thebigword and failed to attend on two dates in August, two in September and one in October. On each occasion the defendant attended and was then sent away with no progress being made. If that defendant or others like him is acquitted there is scope for his travel cost to be reimbursed from government funds. However, if the defendant is convicted s/he must cover their additional loss. Court closures and centralisation have in many locations increased defendant and defence witness travel costs generally. Unlike prosecution witnesses in most circumstances these are not met by the state.
b) In another case this year the prosecution witnesses and the defendant attended a court twice for trial in relation to allegations of sexual assault and assault occasioning actual bodily harm, and on both occasions the trial was adjourned due to the interpreter booked through thebigword not attending.
c) A trial had to be adjourned recently when an interpreter booked through thebigword joined a hearing by telephone whilst driving their car.
6. In some circumstances when an interpreter fails to attend, court staff are able to go “off contract” and book through local interpreting services. This is time consuming for court staff, unduly delays proceedings and is far more expensive than had the interpreter been originally booked through that contract.
7. PCS is aware in relation to other contracts where services are outsourced to global conglomerates that this almost inevitably has a negative impact on pay. Low pay can lead to no shows and cancellations at short notice because others who require the services of these highly skilled professionals pay a rate that reflects that skill level.
8. Locally contracted services which were the norm for Magistrates’ Courts Committees before they became part of HMCS (the predecessor of HMCTS) resulted in a service tailored to meet individual court needs. Locally contracted services not only mean attention to detail but a personal touch leads to the building of professional relationships where providing a quality service counts and generates loyalty.
18 November 2024