Enabling jurors: business regulatory impact assessment

Section 3: Costs, impacts and benefits

Quantified costs to businesses

SCTS has advised that, depending on the contracted provider used, the cost of a BSL interpreter is £490 per full day, and that it would plan on the basis of a minimum of three interpreters being required per trial. This is because BSL interpreters typically work in pairs or groups of three, working in alternating shifts to maintain accuracy and prevent fatigue. The daily cost of providing three BSL interpreters for a juror would therefore be £1,470. The overall cost for interpretation would depend on the length of the trial. Figures for an average High Court trial and sheriff court solemn trial durations have been included in the table of costs below.

It is not known how many jurors would be likely to make use of BSL interpreters, as data is not collected on the number of people who are excused from jury service who could not participate effectively without a BSL interpreter. However, to give an indication of numbers, we understand that in England and Wales around 70 jurors used BSL interpretation between June 2022 (when similar legislation was introduced there) and late February 2025. This means that annually approximately 0.012% of jurors used BSL provision in their jury service. This suggests that the number of jurors using BSL interpreters in Scotland each year as a result of this policy would be approximately 3 jurors a year. The 2022 Scottish Census report indicates that around 2,600 people consider sign language to be their main language. However, not everyone who uses sign language will be BSL users.

Jurors using BSL interpreters might also require additional forms of support. For example, if they were unable to take notes during proceedings because they were watching the interpreter, they might need the support of a note-taker. It is not possible to meaningfully model the costs of such additional support as it would depend on the individual needs of jurors.

Consideration will be given to any adjustments to courtroom layouts that need to be made – for example, to ensure that the interpreter is positioned in court so that the juror can see them at all times. Learning from HMCTS on its experience of providing BSL interpretation for jurors in England and Wales will be helpful in this regard. Engagement to date with HMCTS has not indicated that any adjustments of significant cost were required.

There may be minor costs associated with producing new jury materials to support these provisions - for example, materials giving potential jurors information on the support available for them, and how to communicate their support needs to SCTS. Further additional costs will be incurred as and when different types of support are rolled out by SCTS.

Table of costs

As already highlighted, it is not known how many jurors would be likely to make use of BSL interpreters each year, but the number is likely to be in the low single figures. To give an indication of the potential cost range for providing interpretation, the table below includes figures for different numbers of jurors and different trial durations.

The estimated costs in the above table are based on three BSL interpreters supporting one juror to sign only.

Other impacts

None anticipated

Scottish firms’ international competitiveness

Not applicable for this policy

Benefits to business

Organisations providing communicative support may receive new contracts and business from SCTS. However, as shown above, the numbers from England and Wales indicate that the number of jurors who require BSL support is projected to be relatively low.

Small business impacts

Small businesses who provide communicative support may benefit from new contracts from SCTS. Small businesses are not expected to be at a disadvantage from this policy.

Investment

There may be investment opportunities for skills development if we find that there is a lack of organisations and/or professionals who provide communicative support.

Workforce and Fair Work

Not applicable for this policy

Climate change/Circular Economy

Not applicable for this policy

Competition Assessment

Not applicable for this policy

Consumer Duty

A Consumer Duty assessment is not required