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My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Helen Grant) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Today, the Government responded to the Justice Committee report Interpreting and Translation Services and the Applied Language Solutions Contract. This sets out some of the work that has already taken place and...
My honourable friend the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice (Helen Grant) has made the following Written Ministerial Statement.
Today, the Government responded to the Justice Committee report Interpreting and Translation Services and the Applied Language Solutions Contract. This sets out some of the work that has already taken place and...
Today the Government responded to the Justice Committee report “Interpreting and translation services and the Applied Language Solutions contract”. This sets out some of the work which has already taken place and some of which is planned in order to bring about improvements to the contract and the associated framework...
Today the Government responded to the Justice Committee report “Interpreting and translation services and the Applied Language Solutions contract”. This sets out some of the work which has already taken place and some of which is planned in order to bring about improvements to the contract and the associated framework...
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department as a result of the implementation of the ALS/Capita contract for court translation and interpreting services.
[149942]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what estimate he has made of the savings to his Department as a result of the implementation of the ALS/Capita contract for court translation and interpreting services.
[149942]
The estimate of savings under the language services call-off contract with Capita is based on the pre-contract spend of approximately £30 million each year. This covers courts, tribunals and the National Offender Management Service.
The savings in the first year of the contract's operation are estimated at £15 million.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will review (a) how many people have been wrongly convicted and (b) the number of potentially guilty people acquitted as a result of errors by translators employed under the ALS/Capita contract; and if he will make a statement.
[149949]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice if he will review (a) how many people have been wrongly convicted and (b) the number of potentially guilty people acquitted as a result of errors by translators employed under the ALS/Capita contract; and if he will make a statement.
[149949]
We have no plan at present to undertake any review of convictions or acquittals in interpreter court cases.
The judiciary is responsible for ensuring that defendants get a fair hearing. If there are any issues with interpretation the judge will stop the proceedings and resolve those issues. The Ministry of Justice monitors performance under the contract, which has an associated complaints system. Only a very small proportion of complaints relate to the quality of the interpreter. We have received no complaints that wrong convictions have been made as a result of problems with interpreters.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much ALS/Capita has been paid (a) in total and (b) in each month since taking over the contract for the delivery of language services to his Department.
[136551]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much ALS/Capita has been paid (a) in total and (b) in each month since taking over the contract for the delivery of language services to his Department.
[136551]
Spend per month on the Capita language services contract with the Ministry of Justice is set out in the following table. The figures for October and November 2012 are combined because Capita missed the October deadline for submitting its invoice.
| Month
in
2012 | Spend
(£) |
| February | 110,419.53 |
| March | 439,935.20 |
| April | 642,027.36 |
| May | 693,325.92 |
| June | 797,555.15 |
| July | 1,116,034.18 |
| August | 1,003,596.92 |
| September | 944,674.26 |
| October
and
November | 1,851,512.76 |
| December | 913,748.54 |
| Total | 8,513,829.82 |
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what financial penalties ALS/Capita has paid (a) in total and (b) in each month for missing agreed service delivery standards since taking over the contract for the delivery of language services to his Department.
[136552]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice what financial penalties ALS/Capita has paid (a) in total and (b) in each month for missing agreed service delivery standards since taking over the contract for the delivery of language services to his Department.
[136552]
Capita only gets paid for completed bookings, so if it cannot supply an interpreter, it does not get paid. The Ministry of Justice manages poor service delivery and performance through a number of methods and remedies open to them under the contract. The Ministry is continually working with the supplier to improve performance delivery standards.
Service credits can be imposed on Capita in line with the terms of the contract when performance falls below the contractual level of 98% success rate. Ministry of Justice Procurement took the commercial decision not to impose service credits February to April due to the investment of £3.5 million by Capita to improve service performance. This is a normal decision at the beginning of a new contract. Service credits have been applied by the Department from June 2012 covering May onwards, as set out in the following table. The low amounts are due to increasing improvement in service to 95.3% performance by August 2012. The service credit amounts for the final months of 2012 will be available in February.
| Month
in
2012 | Service
credit imposed
(£) |
| May | 347 |
| June | 416 |
| July | 422 |
| August | 279 |
| Total | 1,464 |
Service credits are not penalties, they are one of the remedies under the contract. As part of the competitive dialogue process we asked the bidders to provide us with their approach to service credits against a set of key performance indicators. The service credits presented by Applied Language Solutions were equal if not greater than those presented by other bidders.
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the break clause is in his Department's contract with ALS/Capita for the delivery of language services.
[136553]
To ask the Secretary of State for Justice when the break clause is in his Department's contract with ALS/Capita for the delivery of language services.
[136553]
The Ministry of Justice signed the framework agreement for the justice sector in August 2011 for four years with Applied Language Solutions, now owned by Capita. The Department signed its own contract under the framework agreement in October 2011 for five years.
The framework agreement does not prevent the Ministry of Justice from contracting with other providers. Break clauses for material breach are also included in the contract.
The National Audit Office recommended that the Ministry of Justice fully implement the contract, and we are discussing this with interpreters, Capita and other partners to the framework agreement.
Interpreting services in court are at a 95% success rate, and the National Audit Office has said that we should go on and implement the proposals fully. The contract is saving us £15 million a year of taxpayers’ money, and as long as we continue to work with interpreters—we have already had an important meeting with them—the new system will be more sustainable, effective and transparent than the old one.
Interpreting services in court are at a 95% success rate, and the National Audit Office has said that we should go on and implement the proposals fully. The contract is saving us £15 million a year of taxpayers’ money, and as long as we continue to work with interpreters—we have already had an important meeting with them—the new system will be more sustainable, effective and transparent than the old one.
Last week, the Public Accounts Committee published its report on the Ministry of Justice’s language services contract. It concluded, among other things, that Applied Language Solutions does not have enough interpreters available to meet demand, and that the interpreters who are provided
do not all have the necessary qualifications. Does the Secretary of State intend to implement the Committee’s recommendations to address those pressing issues?
Last week, the Public Accounts Committee published its report on the Ministry of Justice’s language services contract. It concluded, among other things, that Applied Language Solutions does not have enough interpreters available to meet demand, and that the interpreters who are provided
do not all have the necessary qualifications. Does the Secretary of State intend to implement the Committee’s recommendations to address those pressing issues?
Last week, the Public Accounts Committee published its report on the Ministry of Justice’s language services contract. It concluded, among other things, that Applied Language Solutions does not have enough interpreters available to meet demand, and that the interpreters who are provided
do not all have the necessary qualifications. Does the Secretary of State intend to implement the Committee’s recommendations to address those pressing issues?
Interpreting services in court are at a 95% success rate, and the National Audit Office has said that we should go on and implement the proposals fully. The contract is saving us £15 million a year of taxpayers’ money, and as long as we continue to work with interpreters—we have already had an important meeting with them—the new system will be more sustainable, effective and transparent than the old one.
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent report by the National Audit Office on the Ministry of Justice’s Language Services Contract, what steps they are taking to monitor the performance of Applied Language Services (ALS) in the supply of interpretation services to the courts; and what...
To ask Her Majesty’s Government, in the light of the recent report by the National Audit Office on the Ministry of Justice’s Language Services Contract, what steps they are taking to monitor the performance of Applied Language Services (ALS) in the supply of interpretation services to the courts; and what...
We welcome the NAO's acknowledgement that the department had strong reasons for changing the old interpreter booking system and their recommendation to develop a strategy to fully implement the framework. We monitor the service closely and hold regular meetings with the contractor. Service credits have been applied since May where the contractor has fallen short of the required service levels. Statistics on this area published by the Ministry show that ALS fulfilled 90% of requests in April this year, and we expect to publish further statistics later this year. Figures in the NAO report show that more than 95% of bookings are now being filled, while complaints have fallen. We are continuing to push for further improvement.
We have seen no such evidence. If the hon. Gentleman has a constituency case that he wants to bring to us, he should feel free to do so.
We have seen no such evidence. If the hon. Gentleman has a constituency case that he wants to bring to us, he should feel free to do so.
Further to Question 6, is there any indication that any prisoner has received an inappropriate sentence because of the failings of Applied Language Solutions, given that, as the Under-Secretary of State for Justice, the hon. Member for Maidstone and The Weald (Mrs Grant) said, it has failed to fulfil 5% of its bookings even after the improvements that she talked about?
The hon. Lady may be aware of problems that occurred when the contract started in January, but the National Audit Office’s recent report, published on 12 September, showed that ALS was filling 95% of its bookings and complaints had fallen. The Department continues to monitor the performance of ALS against the key performance indicators. We published a statistical report in May and plan to publish an updated report later in the year.
The hon. Lady may be aware of problems that occurred when the contract started in January, but the National Audit Office’s recent report, published on 12 September, showed that ALS was filling 95% of its bookings and complaints had fallen. The Department continues to monitor the performance of ALS against the key performance indicators. We published a statistical report in May and plan to publish an updated report later in the year.
I thank the Minister for her response and welcome her to her post. She brings a unique expertise to the team. May I also pay tribute to the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke)? He was a good Lord Chancellor.
The Minister will be aware that there is a legal duty under the Human Rights Act to provide interpreters, and a judge last month said ALS was dreadful—a plague on the courts and incompetent. What steps will the Minister take to ensure there is no waste of public money in delayed and adjourned cases?
I thank the Minister for her response and welcome her to her post. She brings a unique expertise to the team. May I also pay tribute to the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke)? He was a good Lord Chancellor.
The Minister will be aware that there is a legal duty under the Human Rights Act to provide interpreters, and a judge last month said ALS was dreadful—a plague on the courts and incompetent. What steps will the Minister take to ensure there is no waste of public money in delayed and adjourned cases?
The Ministry of Justice acted quickly to put a plan in place when it became obvious that there were performance problems. We are not being complacent and we will continue to monitor performance, but we are seeing some substantial improvements. The framework with ALS is intended to provide better value for money. It also provides an opportunity to reduce a great deal of
the administrative burdens that were placed on the justice agencies under the old system. The contract is also expected to save the Ministry of Justice in the region of £15 million a year.
The Ministry of Justice acted quickly to put a plan in place when it became obvious that there were performance problems. We are not being complacent and we will continue to monitor performance, but we are seeing some substantial improvements. The framework with ALS is intended to provide better value for money. It also provides an opportunity to reduce a great deal of
the administrative burdens that were placed on the justice agencies under the old system. The contract is also expected to save the Ministry of Justice in the region of £15 million a year.
The Ministry of Justice acted quickly to put a plan in place when it became obvious that there were performance problems. We are not being complacent and we will continue to monitor performance, but we are seeing some substantial improvements. The framework with ALS is intended to provide better value for money. It also provides an opportunity to reduce a great deal of
the administrative burdens that were placed on the justice agencies under the old system. The contract is also expected to save the Ministry of Justice in the region of £15 million a year.
I thank the Minister for her response and welcome her to her post. She brings a unique expertise to the team. May I also pay tribute to the right hon. and learned Member for Rushcliffe (Mr Clarke)? He was a good Lord Chancellor.
The Minister will be aware that there is a legal duty under the Human Rights Act to provide interpreters, and a judge last month said ALS was dreadful—a plague on the courts and incompetent. What steps will the Minister take to ensure there is no waste of public money in delayed and adjourned cases?