§ 30. Mr. Maxtonasked the Solicitor-General for Scotland how many staff his Department employs in the Crown Office building, Edinburgh, formerly the Royal high school.
§ The Solicitor-General for ScotlandThe total number of persons employed in the Crown Office building, Edinburgh is 93, excluding cleaning and security staff.
§ Mr. MaxtonWill the Solicitor-General consider taking all those staff out of that building, employing them somewhere else and persuading the Secretary of State to use the building for its proper purpose, which, of course, is the establishment of a Scottish Assembly?
§ The Solicitor-General for ScotlandNow that I read that the hon. Gentleman increasingly understands that he is a somewhat dumb pawn in the nationalist game over a Scottish Assembly, I am surprised that he uses his not inconsiderable energies in putting down questions of this sort. If he wants to ask me more detailed questions about how the staff of the Crown Office in Scotland—which is a unique institution in the United Kingdom—operates I shall be happy to give him a serious answer.
§ Mr. WilsonI had always thought that one of the duties of the Solicitor-General was to bring about law reform in Scotland. Given the considerable backlog and delays in relation to law reform, particularly with regard to the law 314 of diligence and such matters, does he not agree that it would be beneficial for the improvement of the Scottish legal system if we had a Scottish legislature, so that we would be able to devote to Scottish legal business more than the half hour in one day which the House of Commons is able to give to it?
§ The Solicitor-General for ScotlandI should have thought that the hon. Gentleman, who has had a career in the law in Scotland, would understand that we have a unique system of criminal law. It would do no good at all to our commercial system of law if we were to go along a route that is wholly idiosyncratic. It is critically important that we march in step with developments in Europe and south of the border—
§ Mr. WilsonWhy?
§ The Solicitor-General for ScotlandBecause it is in the commercial interest of Scotland, which I believe hon. Members on both sides of the House would agree is a desirable objective. Contrary to what the hon. Gentleman says, there is not a delay on the part of the Government over diligence, as he well appreciates. The Scottish Law Commission feels that this matter requires the most detailed consideration. It is still considering it as a matter of top priority. I am sure the hon. Gentleman would agree with me that the better the reform it can achieve in this difficult area of the law, the better it will be for Scotland.
§ Mr. Bill WalkerDoes my hon. and learned Friend agree that it is not the number of staff that he is employing in the old high school building that is important, but the quality of the staff and the quality of the work they produce?
§ The Solicitor-General for ScotlandI am grateful to my hon. Friend, but it is generally recognised that the procurator fiscal system and the Crown Office in Scotland are admired widely, not just in the rest of the United Kingdom but elsewhere in the world, to the extent that it is being considered whether a similar scheme might be followed south of the border.