Question to the Ministry of Justice:

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what assessment she has made of the potential impact of conducting a review of language professionals’ (a) minimum pay rates, (b) cancellation fees and (c) working conditions on the long-term (i) procurement and (ii) retention of public service interpreters.

The Ministry of Justice has undertaken a review of interpreter remuneration and conditions as part of the current procurement exercise for the interpreting service. This included a Delivery Model Assessment and extensive market engagement. The House of Lords Public Services Committee (PSC) also conducted an inquiry into the interpreting service in courts and published their subsequent report in March 2025.

The Ministry of Justice has drawn on the valuable learning and insights from these reviews which informed the Department’s response to the House of Lords PSC report. The response, which covers the topics raised in more detail, can be accessed via this link: committees.parliament.uk/publications/48172/documents/252233/default/.