ALS appears in court - as the defendant
ALS Ltd workers not turning up or not being up to the job of court interpreting is causing widespread disruption to the smooth running of the courts service. The knock-on effects of the failing contract are costly: unnecessary adjournments and remands in custody, and wasted costs for all parties attending.
Judges and Magistrates are hitting Applied Language Solutions Ltd and its parent company Capita where it hurts with orders to pay wasted costs. One trial that collapsed at Snaresbrook because of ALS Ltd cost an estimated £25,000. The company was recently ordered to pay wasted costs of £12,000 by a judge at Reading Crown Court.
ALS is listed as the defendant in a case (U20121085) heard at Bristol Crown Court on 22 August, when the agency was spared a wasted costs order but was directed by HH Judge Ticehurst to get its workers to court on time in future. ALS also appeared as the defendant before a Peterborough Crown Court judge on 3 August (U20120097), "to show cause".
Not content with delaying Justice through its ramshackle delivery of the contract worth £300 million, ALS Ltd now seems to be clogging up forthcoming listings with regular appearances in the dock.
Members of the judiciary ought to be quicker to use their powers - how many ALS Ltd managers and agency workers should really be in the dock for contempt of court?
