Speaking in a House of Lords debate last month, Lady Butler-Sloss said there had been “disruption and delay to criminal trials as a result of serious inaccuracies of court interpreting, which is not only leading to very considerable cost but also concerns have been…raised by judges across the country, particularly in London, in Birmingham and in Leeds”.

The committee aims to explore the reasons for changing the arrangements for interpreter services, the nature of the procurement process, the experiences of courts and prisons, the effectiveness of the complaints process, steps taken to resolve under-performance, and the arrangements for monitoring the management of the contract.