Recommendation AS-8: Interpreter Availability
From The Report of the Al-Sweady Inquiry, published 17 December 2014.
Recommendation
There should be an appropriate review of all current, relevant policy and procedures to ensure that a sufficient number of suitably trained interpreters are readily available and on hand during all aspects of prisoner detainee handling, including all forms of interrogation and questioning, during the issuing and provision of medication, the need to ensure that basic requests for water/food/lavatory breaks are properly understood in Prisoner Holding Areas and to give safety briefings and to help deal with any problems prior to and/or during flight transfers.
In brief (written by this site)
In a March 2015 progress report, the Ministry of Defence stated that it had set work in hand to establish contracts for interpreter provision on future operations to support the tasks set out in the recommendation (Ministry of Defence, Mar 2015). Secretary of State for Defence Michael Fallon had accepted the recommendation in principle in December 2014, noting that he had commissioned urgent work on its practical implications (Michael Fallon response, Dec 2014).
AI-generated summary of the record on this page, checked by a second model and automatic checks, 26 Sep 2026. The record below is the sources' own words.
Government response
Sir Thayne Forbes has made just nine recommendations, and he acknowledges the progress that the Ministry has made since 2004 to improve all aspects of the prisoner-handling system—from policy and doctrine to unit-level instructions and procedures as well as training and oversight—and to ensure it complies with domestic and international law. I accept all nine recommendations in principle. I have commissioned urgent work on their practical implications—in particular, we will need to ensure that they will not prevent the armed forces from carrying out vital tasks—and I will announce to the House my detailed conclusions as soon as I can.
Blanket government agreement does not establish acceptance or delivery by each addressee. Some response passages cover groups of recommendations.
Scope of the government response
The Secretary of State for Defence accepted all nine recommendations in principle together, in one passage of his statement to the House of Commons on 17 December 2014. That passage is shown on each recommendation and is not a response to any one of them alone. He said he would announce his detailed conclusions later. His written statement of 12 March 2015 (HCWS383) and the report on implementation he placed in the Library of the House that day (deposited paper DEP2015-0312) give the Ministry of Defence's account of each recommendation; they are shown as status updates.
Delivery
Ministry of Defence says in progress (12 March 2015)
Recommendation 8 calls for a review of the provision of interpreters required to ensure that prisoners are treated properly. The Department has set work in hand to establish contracts for interpreter provision on future operations which should provide a better level of support for the tasks set out in this recommendation.
From: Report on implementation of Al-Sweady Inquiry recommendations
Responsible bodies
Themes and tags
Who has spoken
- Ministry of Defence
Response, delivery statement