Scotland’s prosecution service will have its highest level of staff ever if a £3.6 million funding boost brings in expected numbers of recruits, MSPs have heard.
The Scottish Government announced the cash in August for the service to recruit up to 140 permanent staff, including up to 60 new permanent prosecutors.
Scotland’s most senior law officer, Lord Advocate James Wolffe QC, told MSPs the service carried out analysis which found a 50% rise in sex crimes prosecuted at the High Court, such as rape, within a year and 19% rise in those dealt with by sheriff and jury.
He said the overall number of cases is falling but their nature is changing with an increasing number of large complex cases such as those involving crime gangs.
Giving evidence to Holyrood’s Justice Committee, the Lord Advocate said: “What this funding does is it responds to the particular set of challenges that I described and it will, if the service’s plans in relations to recruitment reach fruition, it will result in the service having a higher staff level than it has ever had before.”
COPFS chief executive, David Harvie, added: “The historic high in relation to prosecutors is 558 and if we are in a position to follow this through then we will have over 600.”
However, a Procurators Fiscal Society of the FDA union has warned of recruitment difficulties due to COPFS lawyers being being on lower rates of pay than their counterparts elsewhere in the government.
Committee convener Margaret Mitchell was among those questioning the witnesses on the pay differential, highlighting FDA analysis showing COPFS legal trainees are paid 27% less than their counterparts at the Scottish Government, which fluctuates between 50% and 15% as their career progresses.
She said: “We did hear morale was down and people are leaving the service and if that disparity continues then it isn’t sustainable that the procurator fiscal service is going to retain the level of skill that it requires to function.”
The Lord Advocate said the service has lost 59 staff members to other government departments since January 2014, at an increasing rate in the past 18 months.
He said: “There’s always been a number of staff that move on from the service for a variety of reasons but the pay differential is there.
“Undoubtedly the service would like to reduce the differential but that of course has resource implications if that were to be done.”
He added the rate of turnover is at a historic low and the service continues to attract large numbers of applicants for jobs.
Mr Harvie said pay is mentioned in a “significant proportion” of exit interviews conducted with those leaving the service.
He added that of the 59 staff who have left since 2014, 11 have been lawyers and this period 14 prosecutors have moved on to take up judicial positions.
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