There is no shortage of qualified professional PSI interpreters, but many of us continue to refuse to work for the agencies to which the MoJ/Police Forces have outsourced their language services, only accepting assignments when booked directly.
Both professional organisations and individual interpreters have tried very hard to warn that this would happen, as shown in this extract of the House of Commons Justice Committee report from 2012.
House of Commons – Justice Committee: Written evidence from Klasiena Slaney (parliament.uk)
This outsourcing has proven to be detrimental to the sustainability and development of the public service profession, to the supply of qualified interpreters and translators, and to the delivery of justice. The disregard shown by the MoJ and ALS for standards and quality, added to the slashing of the rates of pay to interpreters, means that professionals are no longer be able to afford to carry out this vital work in the public sector, and are seeking to earn a better living in other sectors. The majority of professional legal interpreters have not and will not register with ALS, which means that courts no longer have access to the majority of fully qualified, experienced, trusted and vetted legal interpreters. Unless remedial action is taken soon, it will take several years to restore the quality of interpreting services for the courts in the UK.