*/
Outsourcing giant Capita has been ordered to pay costs by the President of the Family Division for “serial failures” to provide Slovak interpreting services.
In Re Capita Translation and Interpreting Ltd [2015] EWFC 5, costs of £13,338.15 were awarded to Kent County Council in respect of hearings on 7 May and 14 November last year.
Sir James Munby had been forced to adjourn the final adoption hearing on 7 May after no one could attend to translate for the Slovak-speaking parents. Two interpreters had been booked on 14 April, but only at 2pm on the day before the hearing was the court was informed by Capita Translation and Interpreting that no interpreters were available.
In an approved judgment, Sir James explained: “This was done by an automatically generated email which included the words ‘We apologise for any inconvenience caused’ – a banal and formulaic statement hardly reflecting the fact that a failure to provide interpreters, particular in a case such as this, causes much more than ‘inconvenience’ to all concerned, not least to the anxious parents.”
Of crucial importance was the agreement between Capita and the Secretary of State for Justice, analysed in Re Applied Language Solutions Ltd [2013] EWCA Crim 326 and equally applicable to public family law proceedings: if a private company takes on the discharge of an obligation of the state, it assumes the responsibility to do so in accordance with the terms it has agreed.
The standard identified by Cobb J in B v B (Costs: Order against non-party) [2013] EWHC 1956 (Fam) was also applied: the failures were “not minor but extensive, and, at two different stages of the litigation, they had a profound effect on the conduct of the proceedings”.
He emphasised that the decision was reached on the facts of this particular case: “I am not to be understood as suggesting that Capita will be liable for each and every failure to provide an interpreter... Nor am I to be understood as suggesting that Capita will be liable for each and every failure to provide a Slovak interpreter, lamentable though its failures to provide such interpreters were in this particular case and, seemingly, more generally.
“Nor should it be assumed that a similar liability will extend to other private-sector contractors whose failures can impact adversely upon the court sitting-day, for example, the companies responsible for producing prisoners at court...”
The “serial failures” in this case reflected wider systemic problems evidenced in the Ministry of Justice’s 2012-2013 Statistical Bulletin. The low “success rate” in the provision of Slovak interpreters (77.7% in 2013), which was “reflected in the complaint rate which is amongst the highest of all language requests”, contrasted markedly to an overall success rate of 93.4% in Q4 2013. Sir James refused permission to appeal.
Sir James Munby had been forced to adjourn the final adoption hearing on 7 May after no one could attend to translate for the Slovak-speaking parents. Two interpreters had been booked on 14 April, but only at 2pm on the day before the hearing was the court was informed by Capita Translation and Interpreting that no interpreters were available.
In an approved judgment, Sir James explained: “This was done by an automatically generated email which included the words ‘We apologise for any inconvenience caused’ – a banal and formulaic statement hardly reflecting the fact that a failure to provide interpreters, particular in a case such as this, causes much more than ‘inconvenience’ to all concerned, not least to the anxious parents.”
Of crucial importance was the agreement between Capita and the Secretary of State for Justice, analysed in Re Applied Language Solutions Ltd [2013] EWCA Crim 326 and equally applicable to public family law proceedings: if a private company takes on the discharge of an obligation of the state, it assumes the responsibility to do so in accordance with the terms it has agreed.
The standard identified by Cobb J in B v B (Costs: Order against non-party) [2013] EWHC 1956 (Fam) was also applied: the failures were “not minor but extensive, and, at two different stages of the litigation, they had a profound effect on the conduct of the proceedings”.
He emphasised that the decision was reached on the facts of this particular case: “I am not to be understood as suggesting that Capita will be liable for each and every failure to provide an interpreter... Nor am I to be understood as suggesting that Capita will be liable for each and every failure to provide a Slovak interpreter, lamentable though its failures to provide such interpreters were in this particular case and, seemingly, more generally.
“Nor should it be assumed that a similar liability will extend to other private-sector contractors whose failures can impact adversely upon the court sitting-day, for example, the companies responsible for producing prisoners at court...”
The “serial failures” in this case reflected wider systemic problems evidenced in the Ministry of Justice’s 2012-2013 Statistical Bulletin. The low “success rate” in the provision of Slovak interpreters (77.7% in 2013), which was “reflected in the complaint rate which is amongst the highest of all language requests”, contrasted markedly to an overall success rate of 93.4% in Q4 2013. Sir James refused permission to appeal.
Outsourcing giant Capita has been ordered to pay costs by the President of the Family Division for “serial failures” to provide Slovak interpreting services.
In Re Capita Translation and Interpreting Ltd [2015] EWFC 5, costs of £13,338.15 were awarded to Kent County Council in respect of hearings on 7 May and 14 November last year.
The Chair of the Bar reports back
Clement Cowley, Partner at The Penny Group, explains how global events can influence the performance of pensions and ISAs, and why taking a long-term approach to investing is often the most effective strategy
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, discusses what family law professionals need to know about hallucinogens, from the main hallucinogenic drugs encountered in family proceedings, to their effects and the testing options available
Harmony Christian Ministries is the latest charity to benefit from a £500 donation from AlphaBiolabs via the company’s Giving Back initiative
By David Green
Mário Barroso, Head of R&D and Method Development at AlphaBiolabs, examines the forensic science underpinning hair drug testing, its evidential scope and limitations, and why it remains the gold standard for evidencing patterns of drug use in family proceedings
Developing a tech start-up demands a different definition of excellence to the Bar, says Saara Idelbi. The co-creator of Advocatr on entrepreneurship, AI advocacy training, and matching the thrill of a killer cross-examination
