§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland how many procurator fiscals or deputy procurator fiscals were attached to each procurator fiscal office in Scotland and if he will provide a breakdown of the average number of cases per procurator fiscal or deputy procurator fiscal in each office in(a) 1974, (b) 1984 and (c) 1994; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LangPrecise staffing figures for 1974 are not available. In any event, the procurator fiscal service took over prosecution in the district court between 1975 and 1976 and this makes comparison of staffing levels prior to then inappropriate. The figures requested are provided below for the years 1976, 1984 and 1994. Little significance can be attached to them, since scope for comparison between staffing levels and bare case numbers is restricted by differing degrees of complexity and duration of cases, geographical considerations, and inter-office assistance.
773W
1976 PF Deputes Cases Average per staff member Aberdeen 1 5 10,207 1,701 Airdrie 1 4 6,547 1,309 Alloa 1 — 1,478 1,478 Arbroath 1 — 1,929 1,929 Ayr 1 2 5,246 1,749 Banff 1 — 1,401 1,401 Campbeltown 1 — 826 826 Cupar 1 — 1,690 1,690 Dingwall/Tain 1 1 2,526 1,263 Dornoch 1 — 546 546 Dumbarton 1 4.5 5,663 1,030 Dumfries 1 2 5,311 1,770 Dundee 1 4.5 11,104 2,019 Dunfermline 1 1 4,716 2,358 Dunoon 1 — 1,349 1,349 Duns 1 — 902 902 Edinburgh 1 13.5 31,330 2,161 Elgin 1 1.5 3,268 1,307 Falkirk 1 2 5,143 1,714 Forfar 1 — 1,805 1,805 Fort William 1 — 904 904 Glasgow 1 35 63,852 1,774 Greenock 1 4 7,281 1,456 Haddington 1 1 2,761 1,381 Hamilton 1 7.5 12,366 1,455 Inverness 1 2 5,395 1,798 Kilmarnock 1 4 7,468 1,494 Kirkcaldy 1 2 5,578 1,859 Kirkcudbright 1 — 747 747 Kirkwall 1 — 612 612 Lanark 1 1 1,726 863 Lerwick 1 — 598 598
1976 PF Deputes Cases Average per staff member Linlithgow 1 2 5,259 1,753 Oban 0.5 — 993 993 Paisley 1 7 11,334 1,417 Perth 1 3 5,527 1,382 Peterhead 1 — 1,368 1,368 Portree 1 — 434 434 Rothesay 1 — 601 601 Selkirk/Jedburgh/Peebles 1 1 4,676 2,338 Stirling 1 2 3,987 1,329 Stonehaven 1 — 1,821 1,821 Stornoway/Lochmaddy 1 — 575 575 Stranraer 1 — 1,113 1,113 Wick 1 — 1,204 1,204 774W
1984 PF Deputes Cases Average per staff member Aberdeen 1 7.5 14,888 1,752 Airdrie 1 5 7,817 1,303 Alloa 1 1 2,510 1,255 Arbroath 1 1 2,467 1,234 Ayr 1 3 7,316 1,829 Banff 1 — 910 910 Campbeltown 1 — 704 704 Cupar 1 — 2,212 2,212 Dingwall 1 — 1,513 1,513 Dornoch 1 — 641 641 Dumbarton 1 5 7,112 1,185 Dumfries 1 3 7,295 1,823 Dundee 1 7 14,061 1,758 Dunfermline 1 3 5,912 1,478 Dunoon 1 — 1,565 1,565 Duns 1 — 743 743 Edinburgh 1 19.5 57,952 2,827 Elgin 1 1 3,909 1,955 Falkirk 1 3 8,000 2,000 Forfar 1 — 2,822 2,822 Fort William 1 — 1,200 1,200 Glasgow 1 54.5 71,948 1,296 Greenock 1 4 6,641 1,328 Haddington 1 1 3,211 1,606 Hamilton 1 11 18,720 1,560 Inverness 1 3 6,004 1,501 Jedburgh 1 — 1,435 1,435 Kilmarnock 1 6 11,230 1,604 Kirkcaldy 1 3 7,294 1,824 Kirkcudbright 1 — 919 919 Kirkwall 1 — 592 592 Lanark 1 1 2,168 1,084 Lerwick 1 — 880 880 Linlithgow 1 3 6,987 1,747 Oban 1 — 1,499 1,499 Paisley 1 8.5 11,541 1,215 Peebles 1 — 611 611 Perth 1 3 7,951 1,988 Peterhead 1 1 2,204 1,102 Portree/Lochmaddy 1 — 708 708 Rothesay 1 — 605 605 Selkirk 1 — 1,639 1,639 Stirling 1 2 4,870 1,593 Stonehaven 1 — 2,581 2,581 Stornoway 1 — 817 817 Stranraer 1 — 2,164 2,164 Tain 1 — 1,443 1,443 Wick 1 — 1,116 1,116
1994 PF Deputes Cases Average per staff member Aberdeen 1 12 13,436 1,034 Airdrie 1 6 6,645 949 Alloa 1 1 2,588 1,294 Arbroath 1 1 3,060 1,530 Ayr 1 4.5 7,353 1,337 Banff 1 — 923 923 Campbeltown 1 — 693 693 Cupar 1 1 2,111 1,056 Dingwall 1 — 1,295 1,295 Dornoch/Tain 1 — 1,738 1,738 Dumbarton 1 5.5 7,339 1,129 Dumfries 1 4 6,457 1,291 Dundee 1 6.5 11,044 1,473 Dunfermline 1 3 7,035 1,759 Dunoon 1 — 1,145 1,145 Duns/Jedburgh 1 — 3,323 3,323 Edinburgh/Peebles 1 26.5 30,243 1,100 Elgin 1 1 3,658 1,829 Falkirk 1 5 7,348 1,225 Forfar 1 — 2,235 2,235 Fort William 1 — 1,524 1,524 Glasgow 1 61 69,451 1,120 Greenock/Rothesay 1 4 5,504 1,101 Haddington 1 1 3,997 1,999 Hamilton 1 17 17,255 959 Inverness 1 3 6,634 1,659 Kilmarnock 1 7 9,489 1,186 Kirkcaldy 1 3.5 7,687 1,708 Kirkwall/Lerwick 1 — 1,487 1,487 Lanark 1 1 3,723 1,861 Linlithgow 1 2.5 6,973 1,992 Oban 1 — 1,123 1,123 Paisley 1 11 10,746 896 Perth 1 4.5 7,623 1,386 Peterhead 1 — 2,617 2,617 Portree/Lochmaddy 1 — 721 721 Selkirk 1 — 1,781 1,781 Stirling 1 3.5 4,656 1,035 Stonehaven 1 — 2,008 2,008 Stornoway 1 — 904 904 Stanraer/Kirkcudbright 1 1 3,481 1,741 Wick 1 — 1,038 1,038
§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland what resources were allocated to each procurator fiscal's office in Scotland for each of the last 10 years; and if he will break down this figure to show the average amount allocated per case dealt with by each office; and if he will make a statement.
§ Mr. LangResources are not allocated to individual offices on a per-case basis; they are allocated and managed regionally for the departmental settlement on a basis of past performance, local factors and forecast work load. Allocations per case would be unreliable, there being no meaningful comparison to be made on such a basis because of differing degrees of complexity and duration of cases, geographical variations and inter-office assistance.
§ Mr. SalmondTo ask the Secretary of State for Scotland if he will list the number of cases dealt with by each procurator fiscal's office giving the numerical and percentage breakdown of cases which(a) were marked no proceedings, (b) were dealt with through fiscal fines, (c) proceeded to court, (d) resulted in charges being proved and (e) resulted in persons receiving a custodial sentence for the last 10 years for which figures are available; and if he will make a statement.
775W
§ Mr. LangAs the information requested is lengthy I have arranged for it to be placed in the Library of the House.