HC Deb 26 April 1988 vol 132 cc94-5W
Mr. Evennett

To ask the Attorney-General what steps he is taking to assess whether the current levels of pay for legally qualified staff of the Crown Prosecution Service are sufficient to maintain an effective service.

The Attorney-General

I take great interest in the development of a proper pay structure for those employed in the Government legal service. I consider that the proposed pay award to legally qualified staff in the Crown Prosecution Service, referred to in my answer of 21 April 1988 to the hon. Member for St. Helens, South (Mr. Bermingham) is sufficient, together with allowances that are available, to maintain the effectiveness of existing services and to improve the attractiveness of such posts to potential recruits.

Mr. Evennett

To ask the Attorney-General how many legally qualified staff are currently employed by the Crown Prosecution Service; and how many vacancies for such staff currently exist.

The Attorney-General

On 31 March 1988 the Crown Prosecution Service employed 1,311 legally qualified staff as lawyers and had 459 vacancies for such staff.

Mr. Evennett

To ask the Attorney-General what steps are being taken to encourage lawyers to join the Crown Prosecution Service.

The Attorney-General

The Crown Prosecution Service intends to supplement the existing recruitment arrangements with a number of new initiatives. The current monthly programme of competitions will continue but will focus on specific locations where staffing shortages exist.

In addition to this the other main initiatives under consideration are:

  1. (i) sponsorship of non-qualified staff through legal training,
  2. (ii) the provision of short term contracts of employment,
  3. (iii) improved careers publicity,
  4. (iv) research of the market for part-time working,
  5. (v) secondments from outside organisations.

It is hoped that these initiatives, combined with the recent pay offer to legal staff, will increase the success of the current procedures which have resulted in the recruitment of around 500 lawyers since the inception of the Crown Prosecution Service.

Mr. Evennett

To ask the Attorney-General whether any persons have been appointed by the Crown Prosecution Service to conduct criminal investigations; and whether there are any plans to make such appointments.

The Attorney-General

All criminal investigations are undertaken by the police, who are aided by specialist assistance as and when required.

Within the headquarters of the Crown Prosecution Service is the fraud investigation group, which undertakes the investigation and prosecution of serious and complex cases. The sixteen FIG lawyers control the cases from the outset and co-ordinate specialist assistance on a case by case basis in support of the police investigations. This specialist assistance includes investigative accountants within the fraud investigation group, the companies investigation branch of the Department of Trade and Industry, HM Customs and Excise, private sector accountants, liquidators, receivers and computer experts.

The fraud investigation group has no statutory power to investigate, unlike the newly created serious fraud office, which will be responsible from this month for the investigation and prosecution of the largest fraud cases in England, Wales and Northern Ireland.