Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, whether her Department plans to review its contract with The Big Word Interpreting Services Ltd for (a) service quality and (b) value for money; and how her Department monitors the performance of that contract.

The Ministry of Justice routinely reviews all its contracts to ensure service quality and value for money.

The contract with The Big Word for the provision of interpretation and translation services is subject to ongoing performance monitoring and governance. Service quality is assessed against a set of key performance indicators (KPIs), including interpreter attendance rates, fulfilment levels, and customer satisfaction.

Failure to meet KPIs is addressed via the application of service credits (a deduction to the invoiced amount calculated via a prescribed formula in the contract). Reasons for KPI failure are discussed with the supplier as part of routine contract management to ensure any barriers to performance are addressed, or a plan is put in place to mitigate.

Performance data is reviewed monthly, and The Big Word is required to provide regular management information and attend contract review meetings. Recent published data, available on GOV.UK, shows that The Big Word consistently meets the majority of contractual KPIs, with fulfilment rates above 95% in most categories.

The Ministry of Justice regularly and continually evaluates the service performance, identifying improvements that can be implemented within our existing contracts. The Department is also mindful of the need to ensure value for money for the taxpayer. We have recently introduced an increase to a two hour minimum face to face booking (from 1 hour), negotiated with our suppliers and implemented in October 2024 which has contributed to an improvement in service performance, with the most recent data, published on 25 March 2025, showing an increase in success rate to 96%.

The service is currently undergoing a re-procurement in accordance with the Public Contracts Regulations 2015, and aims to ensure a competitive, high-quality, and value-for-money solution for future language service needs. As part of this re-procurement, a benchmarking exercise was conducted against other government departments to compare value for money, and a lessons learned was conducted on improvements to the quality of services.

The Department remains committed to delivering accessible justice by maintaining high standards in interpretation and translation services across the justice system.