Official Statistics

Language services in courts and tribunals statistics: 2012 to 2014

Statistics on the use of language services in courts and tribunals between 30 January 2012 and 31 March 2014.

Documents

Details

The data presented in this bulletin is for face-to-face language services provided to HM Courts & Tribunals Service (HMCTS) and the National Offender Management Service (NOMS).

These services are supplied under a contract with Capita Translation and Interpreting (TI). More information on the ‘Language services framework agreement’ can be found within the explanatory notes section.

When a request can’t be supplied under the contract, it is provided ‘off contract’. ‘Off contract’ bookings are made directly by the courts and tribunals.

The statistics in this publication focus on 4 main areas:

  • completed language services requests, broken down by requester type (criminal court, tribunal, civil and family)
  • success rate of completed requests (which is calculated as the number of completed requests which are either fulfilled or the customer does not attend, as a proportion of all completed requests excluding those cancelled by the customer)
  • number of complaints made (and complaint rate) relating to language services requests broken down by requester type
  • number of ‘off contract’ bookings made broken down by requester type

Key findings

  • Number of completed requests for language services continues to increase quarter on quarter (45,100 in quarter 1, 2014 - the highest number of completed requests since the contract began).
  • Success rate for completed requests has continued the recent trend of improvement (94.5% in quarter 1 2014). The current success rate is equal to the previous peak in quarter 3, 2012.
  • Quarter 1, 2014 complaint rate (2.2%) was the lowest since the contract began.
  • Total ‘off-contract’ bookings continue to decline quarter on quarter (700 in quarter 1, 2014).

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; Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister for the Courts and Legal Aid; Parliamentary Under Secretary of State, Minister for Prisons and Rehabilitation; Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Justice, Minister of State for Policing, Criminal Justice and Victims; Permanent Secretary; Director General, Finance and Corporate Services, Corporate Performance Group; Director General, Transforming Justice, Corporate Performance Group; Director General, Criminal Justice Group; Director of Analytical Services; Deputy Director, Interpreters Project; Procurement Manager, Ministry of Justice Procurement; one policy official, intermediaries, Disclosure and Interpreter Policy; chief statistician; two heads of news; Chief Press Officer – criminal justice desk; two press officers; two special advisors; three private secretaries and six assistant private secretaries.

Published 17 July 2014