Written Question·Ministry of Justice·UIN 91029

Prisons: Translation Services

Tabled: 13 November 2025
Answered: 21 November 2025

Question

Lee Anderson

Reform UKAshfield

To ask the Secretary of State for Justice, what data his Department holds on the total cost of (a) translation and (b) interpretation services in the prison system for each of the last five years.

Answer

Jake Richards

The requested information has been provided in the tables below.

Translation:

FY

Translation

FY21-22

£ 83,462.46

FY22-23

£ 137,213.31

FY23-24

£ 280,071.34

FY24-25

£ 328,526.54

FY25-26

£ 142,303.32

Total

£ 971,576.97

Interpreting:

FY

Interpreting

FY21/22

£ 133,776.35

FY22/23

£ 125,495.41

FY23/24

£ 163,546.08

FY24/25

£ 161,212.42

FY25/26

£ 105,987.79

Total

£ 690,018.05

The Ministry of Justice has a statutory duty to provide Language Services to enable access to justice for users whom English is not their first language. Language Service needs and spend are assessed to ensure these services offer good value for money for taxpayers whilst maintaining high standards of service delivery.