To ask the Attorney-General what estimate the Crown Prosecution Service has made of the extra costs it has incurred arising from the recent shortage of court interpreters.

The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) has no central records on the number or cost of court delays or adjournments which are caused by the late attendance or non-attendance of interpreters. In order to provide an estimate of additional costs incurred because of a shortage of interpreters, if any, extensive inquiries would need to be made in relation to each court list since the new interpreter contract was implemented on 1 February 2012 and this would incur disproportionate cost.