Statistics for Interpreter Bookings made directly from Courts (3)

The request was partially successful.

Dear Her Majesty’s Courts and the Tribunals Service,

Please provide the following information for the period September 24th to September 29th 2012 inclusive:

(1) The number of interpreter claim forms submitted to The
Payments & Accounts Department, Lowestoft Magistrates' Court, Old Nelson St, Lowestoft [e.g 90 claims]
(2) The number of individual court hearings for which
interpreters were provided in the answer to question (1). NB Many claim forms will relate to more than one hearing, all of which will be entered on the form. [e.g. 101 cases]
(3) The breakdown by language of the figures arrived at in
the answer to questions (1) and (2). NB the language is always entered on the claim form [e.g. Tamil 4 claims; 5 hearings]
(4) The monetary value of (1) [e.g. £13,000]
(5) The breakdown by court name of the figures arrived at in answer to questions(1) and (3)
(6) The breakdown per language of monies spent on fees and
expenses [e.g Dutch £200 fees, £100 expenses].
(7) The proportion of claims for which agencies were used to source the interpreter [e.g. agencies 4.5% of claims]
(8) The proportion of claims relating to cases cancelled in
advance [e.g cancellations 0.3% of claims].

Please note that I am aware that a common automated spreadsheet is used for all cases which should make statistic-gathering straightforward and speedy.

Yours faithfully,

Mr. McCullagh

Interpretation Project, HM Courts and Tribunals Service

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Dear Mr McCullagh,

 

Please find attached an acknowledgement of your Freedom of Information
request to the Ministry of Justice, allocated reference FOI 80582.

 

Yours sincerely,

 

Interpretation Project

 

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Interpretation Project, HM Courts and Tribunals Service

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Dear Mr McCullagh,

 

Please find attached a response to your Freedom of Information request to
the Ministry of Justice, reference FOI 80582.

 

Yours sincerely,

Interpretation Project

 

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Dear Her Majesty’s Courts and the Tribunals Service,

Please pass this on to the person who conducts Freedom of Information reviews.

I am writing to request an internal review of Her Majesty’s Courts and the Tribunals Service's handling of my FOI request 'Statistics for Interpreter Bookings made directly from Courts (3)'.

I am dissatisfied with the quality of the research being undertaken on the following grounds:

(a) The grand total of interpreter costs for 24-29 September 2012 has been entered as £12,011.94 when it should be £4,871.29. Most worryingly this incorrect total of £12,011.94 is precisely the same figure as that given in response to a previous FOI request (79896) relating to the same set of circumstances from a different week (February 20-24 2012). Why have two spreadsheets become cross-contaminated unless the competency of the officials dealing with these requests is questionable?
(b) A previous FOI (79446) relating to this same matter suggested that 90 claim forms per week were being received at South-East processing centre between February and November last year. The response goes on to say that to have processed all 3870 forms from this 6-month period would have exceeded the set limits of an FOI request. Yet in the two weeks for which I have received statistics, the total forms received amounted to 115 (80 in February and 35 in September). Given also that the MoJ is confident that (a) their pilot scheme to return short-notice bookings to the FW contract is going well, and (b) the monies spent on out-of-contract claims have plummeted from £500,000 in February to £70,000 in September, it seems all but impossible to believe that 90 claim forms were being received at this office per week. Even when the out-of-contract policy was in full force (February) only 80 forms a week were being received. Furthermore, by September, the out-of-contract policy was in full and irreversible retreat. My opinion is that the 90-forms-a-week claim was a gross and unfounded over-exaggeration which was used as the grounds to refuse a response to FOI 79446. If that is not the case I would be grateful to receive a full set of statistics for the 6-month period February to November in the interests of transparency. Simply repeating the 90-forms-a-week claim will not do. HMCTS must understand their credibility is now in question. This has gone beyond the situation where strict limits should be applied to the work-hours put into FOI responses.
(c) Lastly I would be grateful to know why a court in the Thames Valley region needed an out-of-contract Urdu interpreter in September. From a previous FOI (79918) relating to the pilot scheme for returning short-notice bookings to the contract, I had been led to understand that all Thames Valley courts without exception had been participating in the pilot scheme since June. Either you have a pilot scheme or you do not. Is it not the case that if you mix and match in-contract jobs with out-of-contract jobs you risk making your pilot scheme meaningless? I would be grateful for some comment on this aspect of FOI 79918.

A full history of my FOI request and all correspondence is available on the Internet at this address:
http://www.whatdotheyknow.com/request/st...

Yours faithfully,

Mr McCullagh

Hutchins, Katrina, HM Courts and Tribunals Service

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Dear Mr Mccullagh,

 

Please find attached an acknowledgement of your request for an Internal
Review.

 

Kind Regards

Katrina

 

Katrina Hutchins
Operations Team Manager/Kilo
HM Courts & Tribunals Service,london RSU, 3rd Floor, Rose Court
2 Southwark Bridge
SE1 9HS

Telephone 020 7921 2131
Fax 08707394469

DX 154261 Southwark 12
www.hmcourts-service.gov.uk

 

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London RSU Kilo,

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Regards
 
 
Mrs J A Downer
 
Operations Support Section
London Regional Support Unit
3rd Floor, Rose Court
2 Southwark Bridge
London
SE1 9HS
DX 154261 SOUTHWARK 12
 
Tel:    020 7921 2666
Fax:    020 7921 2111
 
 
 
 

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London RSU Kilo,

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Dear Mr McCullagh
 
Please find attached the outcome of your internel review.
 
Regards
 
 
Mrs J A Downer
 
Operations Support Section
London Regional Support Unit
3rd Floor, Rose Court
2 Southwark Bridge
London
SE1 9HS
DX 154261 SOUTHWARK 12
 
Tel:    020 7921 2666
Fax:    020 7921 2111
 
 
 
 

This e-mail (and any attachment) is intended only for the attention of
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