The Courier & Advertiser (Angus and Dundee)
No need to cut prosecution staff
Scotland’s top lawyer has faced questions over forecast plans to cut prosecution staff by up to 200, which have altered after a pledge of extra public funding.
A five-year workforce plan for the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service (Copfs) predicted 150-200 staff would go by 2022-23 to save costs.
The Scottish Government said its draft budget outlines more than £114 million for Copfs in 2018-19, a real-terms increase, which Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC said allows staff “stability”.
Crown Agent David Harvie said the service had been anticipating a flat cash settlement from the budget and the increased cash means the anticipated cut of about 30 staff in 2018-19 would not be required.
He told Holyrood’s Justice Committee without the extra money “the choice would have become increasingly difficult”.
Mr Wolffe said: “A real-terms increase in the service’s budget will allow the service to respond to the release of the cap on public-sector pay, to do so from April, and at the same time to choose to retain its staffing at or about current levels.” This was a “significant departure” from the previous planning.
The Procurators Fiscal Society of the FDA union stated in a submission to the committee the budget for the service faced a real-terms cut of more than a fifth between 2009-10 and 2018-19, down almost £35 million.