§ Ms Roseanna CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland on how many occasions the Director of the Public Defence Solicitors' Office has met the Chief Executive of the Scottish Legal Aid Board since his appointment; if those meetings were minuted; and if he will place a copy of any minutes or notes from the meetings in the Library. [65794]
§ Mr. McLeishMr. Alistair Watson of the Public Defence Solicitors' Office took up post on 1 April 1998. He reports to the Scottish Legal Aid Board through the Chief Executive only on administrative matters. On all other matters, including casework, the PDSO operates independently of the Board.
Since 1 April 1998, the Director and the Chief Executive have had a number of meetings on administrative matters. The exact number has not been recorded. Notes of these meetings are internal documents of the Board and are confidential.
355W
§ Ms Roseanna CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many clients have been referred to the Public Defence Solicitor's Office since its establishment, broken down by month; and how many (i) interviews with clients have been conducted, (ii) intermediate diets have been carried out on behalf of clients and (iii) trials have been conducted on behalf of clients. [65955]
§ Mr. McLeishThe number of clients/new cases referred to the Public Defence Solicitors' Office (PDSO) since its establishment on 1 October 1998 until 31 December 1998 (the latest date for which information is available) is shown in the following table.
Month/year New cases October 1998 42 November 1998 55 December 1998 65 Information on the total number of interviews with clients is not available as many of these interviews may have taken place at court.
Intermediate diets were scheduled to take place by 31 December 1998 on 19 occasions. No information is presently available on how many of these diets proceeded. Twelve trial diets were scheduled to take place by 31 December 1998. Of those, 3 proceeded to trial.
§ Ms Roseanna CunninghamTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will give details of(a) the salary of the Public Defence Solicitor, (b) the salaries of each of his deputies, (c) the administrative staff costs of the Public Defence Solicitors' Office, (d) the rental costs of the office and (e) the other outgoings of the office. [65793]
§ Mr. McLeishThe salary of the Director of the Public Defence Solicitors' Office (PDSO) is £50,000 per annum; and the salaries of the 5 public defence solicitors range from £21,000 to £30,000 per annum. The total support staff salary bill is £74,555 per annum (inclusive of National Insurance). The annual rental costs of the office are £52,875 and the other outgoings are estimated to be £117,150 per annum.