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Courts: Welsh Language

Volume 487: debated on Tuesday 10 February 2009

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice how much courts in Wales spent on (a) translation and (b) interpretation between English and Welsh in each year since 2000. (254196)

The information requested for translation costs is contained in the following table.

Translation between English and Welsh

These costs relate to the translation of the written word and include the cost of an internal translator's post.

English/Welsh translation costs incurred in courts in Wales

£

Translation cost

Salary of Translator

2002-03

37,051

24,000

2003-04

32,125

24,000

2004-05

46,002

25,000

2005-06

89,000

23,000

2006-07

87,051

11,000

2007-08

112,000

26,360

Records do not go back further than 2002. Her Majesty's Courts Service (HMCS) came into existence in April 2005. The costs for the years preceding this date have been collated from pre-HMCS records and therefore exclude the translation cost incurred in Welsh magistrates courts committees.

Interpretation between English and Welsh

HMCS would only be able to identify spend on interpreters at a disproportionate cost as expenditure records are not kept at this level of detail.