§ Mr. Wrigglesworthasked the Lord Advocate what effect the operation of cash 105W limits (a) has had in the current year and (b) will have had to the end of the current financial year upon the number and location of staff in his Department.
The Lord AdvocateThe effect of cash limits upon my Department during the current year has been that every vacant post has been very carefully scrutinised before a replacement has been authorised. This has resulted in vacancies remaining unfilled for longer periods and so has led to a reduction in the number of staff in post at any given time.
Allocation of staff in the Crown Office and the Procurator Fiscal Service has also been affected as transfers have been restricted in order to economise in payments of transfer expenses.
Furthermore in order to come within the Department's cash limits it has been found necessary to dispense with 30 of the authorised posts in the Procurator Fiscal Service. This has been achieved by not recruiting for these posts rather than by creating redundancies.
In consequence of the foregoing the staff in the Procurator Fiscal Service is 30 below the authorized complement. In view of the continuing increase in the level of crime this will put pressure on the Procurator Fiscal Service and work will not be carried out as expeditiously or efficiently as I would wish. In addition some desirable transfers of staff will have to be delayed.