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.