Use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals statistics: 1 January 2013 to 30 June 2016
Statistics on the use of language services in courts and tribunals.
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Introduction
This publication contains statistics on the use of language interpreter and translation services in courts and tribunals. These services are supplied under a contract with Capita Translation and Interpreting (TI) and ‘off contract’ when a request can’t be supplied under the contract.
Key findings
- The total number of completed requests for language interpreter and translation services increased by 1% in the latest quarter, from 38,300 in Q1 2016 to 38,700 in Q2 2016. The main driver for this quarter’s increase was the increase in completed service requests at tribunals and civil and family courts, whilst there was a small decrease at criminal courts.
- The success rate had increased from 86% in Q1 2013 to a peak of 98% in Q4 2015 but, since then, has decreased to 96% in Q2 2016; this is a 1 percentage point decrease from Q1 2016 (97%).
- The total number of ‘proven’ complaints was 430 in Q2 2016, a small decrease from 440 in Q1 2016. The rate of complaints has fallen from 4% in 2013 to just over 1% in Q2 2016.
- In Q2 2016, the most common cause of complaint was ‘interpreter was late’, accounting for 30% (130) of all complaints. There were 30 ‘proven’ complaints on ‘interpreter quality’, similar to Q1 2016.
- The total number of ‘off contract’ service requests have increased to 300 requests in Q2 2016, from 220 in Q1 2016, an increase of 38%.
- In Q2 2016, completed off contract service requests accounted for less than one per cent (0.8%) of total completed service requests (completed service requests made under the contract and completed requests made directly by the courts), similar to Q1 2016.
The bulletin was produced and handled by the ministry’s analytical professionals and production staff. Pre-release access of up to 24 hours was granted to the following persons:
Lord Chancellor and Secretary of State for Justice; Permanent Secretary; Minister of State for Courts and Justice; Head of Contracted Services and Performance for HMCTS Operations Directorate; Head of Chief Executive’s Office and Secretary to the Board; Policy official, Intermediaries, Disclosure and Interpreter Policy; Senior Commercial and Contract Manager; Stakeholder Relationship Manager; Director General for Finance, Assurance and Commercial Group; Director, Analytical Services; Chief Statistician; three special advisors; four Press Officers and seven Private Secretaries and Assistant Private Secretaries.