ALS claimed 2500 interpreters, while MoJ claim they have no data on how many interpreters registered with ALS
ALS provided a 'Tender Response' when they signed the Framework Agreement with the Ministry of Justice (MoJ). In this response, ALS claimed to have "2500 registered freelance interpreters... suitably experienced and qualified for Authority assignments" - see below.
"Our team of staff interpreters will be tailored to the needs of the Authority. We currently have staff interpreters dedicated to CJS assignments but this is scalable based on language demand in each area and we work on a robust model that means we hire a permanent interpreter once a customer's demands consistently exceed five hours per day in that specified language, within a set geographic area. Approximately 2500 of our 4500 registered freelance interpreters are suitably experienced and qualified for Authority assignments."
Source - Tender Response, Face-to-Face Interpreting - pp114
However, in a recent Freedom of Information (FoI) request, the MoJ claimed that they had no information regarding how many NRPSI interpreters had registered with ALS when the contract was signed.
Source - FoI request asking about the number of RPSIs who registered with ALS
This begs the following questions:
1. Was ALS misleading by exaggerating the number of 'experienced and qualified' interpreters that had registered with the company?
2. Are the MoJ witholding basic information from FoI requests?
