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<p>The Ministry does not hold central data for all jurisdictions and hearing types
in which interpreters are used and to manually review each case would incur disproportionate
costs. However, central information does exist on the number of trials listed in the
criminal courts which were adjourned as a result of interpreters being unavailable.
This data is published in Criminal Court Statistics.</p><p><a href="https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics"
target="_blank">https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/criminal-court-statistics</a></p><p>A
table detailing such occurrences over the last three years for which data is available
is copied below.</p><p> </p><table><tbody><tr><td><p> </p></td><td colspan="3"><p>Crown
Courts</p></td><td colspan="3"><p>Magistrates’ Courts</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>Year</p></td><td><p>Number
of trials</p></td><td><p>Adjourned due to interpreter availability</p></td><td><p>%
of trials adjourned due to interpreter availability</p></td><td><p>Number of trials</p></td><td><p>Adjourned
due to interpreter availability</p></td><td><p>% of trials adjourned due to interpreter
availability</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2016</p></td><td><p><strong>37,339</strong></p></td><td><p>30</p></td><td><p>0.1%</p></td><td><p><strong>149,423</strong></p></td><td><p>495</p></td><td><p>0.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2017</p></td><td><p><strong>34,579</strong></p></td><td><p>29</p></td><td><p>0.1%</p></td><td><p><strong>136,962</strong></p></td><td><p>423</p></td><td><p>0.3%</p></td></tr><tr><td><p>2018</p></td><td><p><strong>29,583</strong></p></td><td><p>17</p></td><td><p>0.1%</p></td><td><p><strong>123,023</strong></p></td><td><p>495</p></td><td><p>0.4%</p></td></tr></tbody></table><p>
</p><p>As the associated costs for HMCTS of rescheduling trial cases will vary, depending
on whether other work was able to be heard in that courtroom, this information is
not held centrally.</p><p>The department continues to monitor its language service
contracts closely and work with the suppliers to drive improvements and reduce the
cost on the taxpayer. The Language Service contract has achieved a fulfilment rate
of 97% over the first quarter of 2019.</p>
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