3 November 2010
AREA FISCALS GROUP/AREA BUSINESS MANAGERS GROUP
MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 3 NOVEMBER 2010
AT
THE RADDISON HOTEL, 80 HIGH STREET, EDINBURGH
Present: (Chair) Lesley Thomson Area Fiscal, Glasgow
Morag McLaughlin Area Fiscal, Lothian and Borders
Gavin Anderson Business Manager, NCD
Janet Cameron Area Fiscal, Lanarkshire
Angus Chisholm ABM, Highland & Islands
Peter Collings Deputy Chief Executive
Bill Comrie ABM, Glasgow
Anne Currie Area Fiscal, Grampian
Nancy Darroch ABM, Lanarkshire
John Dunn Deputy Crown Agent
Tom Dysart Area Fiscal, Ayrshire
Janet Fulton ABM, Ayrshire
David Gordon ABM, Lothian & Borders
David Green Area Fiscal, Fife
David Harvie Area Fiscal, Central
Pat Hughes ABM, Fife
Janice Irvine Director of Human Resources
Graham Kerr ABM, Argyll & Clyde
Andrew Laing Area Fiscal, Highland & Islands
Rosemary Lester Business Manager, Policy Division
John Logue Area Fiscal, Tayside
John MacFarlane ABM, Central
Sandy Mackie HR Business Partner
Michelle Macleod Head of Policy
Alan Malone CO Operations Manager
Ruth McQuaid Area Fiscal, Dumfries and Galloway
Scott Pattison Director of Operations
John Regan ABM, Grampian
Ralph Riach ABM, Dumfries & Galloway
Geri Watt Director of Strategy and Delivery
John Watt Area Fiscal, Argyll and Clyde
In attendance: Catherine Dyer Crown Agent
Mark Howells Director of Finance
Kevin McArthur Secretary
Alison Michie Policy Division
Andrea Quinn CEO, SPSA
Apologies: Bridget Campbell Non-Executive Director
Gordon Campbell ABM, Tayside
Lynne McNaughton HR Services Manager
Welcome
1. Lesley Thomson welcomed everyone to the meeting, in particular Andrea Quinn, Chief Executive Officer, Scottish Police Services Authority (SPSA).
2. Lesley welcomed David Green, John Logue and Michelle Macleod to their first meeting in their new roles.
3. Apologies were received from Bridget Campbell, Gordon Campbell and Lynne McNaughton.
Minutes of Previous Meeting and Matters Arising
4. The minutes of the previous AFG and ABM meetings held in September 2010 were approved.
5. Lesley Thomson addressed the action points from the previous meeting.
SPSA - “The Way Forward”
6. Lesley Thomson introduced Andrea Quinn to the meeting.
7. Andrea Quinn presented an overview of the SPSA and the challenges facing them in the current and future financial climate. During the presentation the following points were noted:
a) Andrea advised that Policing, in general, has a big challenge ahead to maintain frontline services;
b) She indicated that she wants the SPSA to be run more as a business with a focus on providing an improved service to their customers;
c) It was pointed out that COPFS is the SPSA’s biggest customer and Andrea indicated that she wants to create better communication between the two organisations to improve the service provided;
d) Andrea advised the meeting that after the SPSA budgets are confirmed in the Scottish Government Spending Review, the SPSA will approach all of their customers, including COPFS, to establish which areas of work will need to be prioritised;
e) Andrea acknowledged that the SPSA are working to improve communication with their customers and to provide a consistent service throughout the country;
f) Andrea advised that the SPSA Change Board is looking to create an agreed process and prioritisation of customer engagement.
Strathclyde Gateway Pilot
8. Bill Comrie provided an update on the benefits of the Strathclyde Gateway pilot in which colleagues from COPFS and SPSA meet on a weekly basis to prioritise the requests received by SPSA from COPFS and to discuss any issues arising. Bill advised the Gateway Pilot was established in April 2010 and handles approximately 300 new requests per month. The Gateway logs and tracks the requests as well as reducing the backlog.
Finance Update
9. Mark Howells provided an update on the current and future financial position of COPFS. He thanked all budget centres for their work on reducing their respective spend for this budget year. Mark also advised that the financial impact of the recent Cadder decision remains uncertain.
Cadder
10. Lesley Thomson thanked Michelle Macleod and the Cadder Project Team for their hard work in ensuring guidance and advice was available to all on the day the Cadder judgement was announced.
11. Michelle Macleod provided an update on the current position in relation to Cadder and pointed out the issues which have arisen from the judgement and the new legislation.
12. Michelle advised that there is to be a COPFS representative seconded to assist with a review of procedures headed by Lord Carloway.
13. Areas were asked to remind their staff to use the correct codes when marking cases affected by Cadder. This will be vital to ensure accuracy when collating data at a later stage.
14. Michelle expressed her gratitude to the Project Board for the excellent work done on creating provisions for all eventualities. She thanked the ATLAS Team and Board for their hard work and determination, and in particular Nancy Darroch and Jennifer Graham in their project management role. Michelle also thanked Scott Pattison, Fraser Gibson and Gertie Wallace for their assistance in the days leading up to the announcement of the Supreme Court’s decision.
15. Michelle Macleod asked Areas to ensure all overtime used to manage Cadder cases is recorded.
16. Scott Pattison encouraged all Areas to liaise with the Police when further investigation is required and make sure this is recorded as per the guidance issued.
Action: APFs and ABMs
Implementation of the Criminal Justice and Licensing Act
17. Lesley Thomson welcomed Alison Michie to the meeting.
18. Alison Michie introduced paper AFG/ABM(10)20 which advised Area PFs and ABMs on the sections of the Criminal Justice and Licensing Act which are to be commenced on 13 December 2010 and invited the Group to decide whether the proposed prosecution policy for the new serious organised crime offences is fit for purpose.
19. Alison indicated that there is a question in relation to the flagging of serious organised crime offences. She asked Areas to advise her of any such cases which they consider has been identified incorrectly or should have been flagged as a serious organised crime offence.
Efficiency and Savings
20. Geri Watt provided an update on the efficiency and savings programme. She advised the report requires more work including adding costs to the savings and other details. The report will become much more useful in the coming months when more detail is added.
Project Management and Complex Cases
21. Ruth McQuaid introduced paper AFG/ABM(10)21 which sought the views and comments of the Group on proposals for revisals to the approach currently being taken to the training of Solemn Legal Managers in project management.
22. Ruth thanked everyone who has attended the current courses. Feedback has generally been positive and some minor changes have been applied, however it seems procedures have not as yet cascaded to all Area Units.
23. Ruth proposed that she and Nancy Darroch will offer to go out to Area High Court Units and apply the project management tool to a current case as an example. Ruth indicated the process has been successfully piloted with NCD and that Advocate Deputes will be invited to attend any further training. AFG agreed with Ruth’s proposal to train.
High Court Noters
24. Peter Collings updated the meeting on the future provision of juniors and noters in the High Court. He advised the meeting that the Operations budget for 2011-12 will not include the capacity to procure juniors/noters, therefore a paper will be presented to Management Board to decide the most appropriate way forward.
Purpose Driven Precognition
25. Scott Pattison provided an update on Purpose Driven Precognition and introduced paper AFG/ABM(10)23 which included the final version of the revised guidance. During discussion the following points were noted:
a) Scott indicated the final version of the revised guidance is with the Law Officers for approval;
b) Scott advised that the Review team will visit each area to present the new procedures. He asked that all Solemn and VIA staff attend the training;
c) Scott reported that resource exercises have been completed on a number of cases using the new procedures and indications are that the introduction of purpose driven precognition will provide significant time release savings;
d) The meeting discussed the importance of measuring the benefits of the new procedures.
AOB
26. Janet Cameron wondered whether there should be a corporate view on accepting and attending events and conferences in the current and future financial times. The meeting agreed that invitations to attend conferences and events should be passed to the Workforce Strategy Group for a decision.
27. The meeting discussed whether allowing staff to attend Forum meetings was financially sound in the current climate. However, it was agreed the benefits of the Forums are greater than the savings which could be made and that they provide a vehicle for important messages. The meeting agreed, though, that Portfolio Owners need to re-look at membership and ensure messages are being cascaded from the meetings to all relevant staff.
28. David Harvie introduced a paper on the interception of communications under the Regulation of Investigatory Powers Act 2000. The paper advised the meeting of the recommended steps which Area Procurators Fiscal may wish to take when dealing with intercept information pending the publication of a guidance manual on RIPA/RIP(S)A policy. AFG agreed the recommendations.
29. Peter Collings advised that staff, in general, are kept better informed now, however, he encouraged Areas to ensure all staff are advised of significant and relevant issues.
30. The meeting were advised that Areas/Crown Office should send e-cards this Christmas rather than paper cards. Anne Currie asked Areas/Crown Office to pick a picture and submit it to her as soon as possible.
31. The meeting noted that staff will be allowed a half day for Christmas shopping again this year, however, in light of the future financial climate it may not be possible to grant this reward in the coming years.
32. Peter Collings updated the meeting on the current position in relation to Phoenix. He advised that since the Chancellor’s Spending Review announcement on the 20th October it has become clear for all public services that budgets generally will be significantly reduced over future years. Capital spending will have the biggest reductions, therefore, it has been decided to change track to a phased method using the detailed work already done.
33. John Dunn reported on the outcomes of the Sheriff’s Association meeting held on 28 September 2010. He advised that it was agreed the issue of contacting Sheriffs out of hours be raised with the respective Sheriffs Principal. The Crown Agent agreed to contact the Sheriffs Principal.
Action: Catherine Dyer
34. Catherine Dyer stated that, as the Chair of the Scottish Government Honours Committee, she is delighted that COPFS have had some success in the past, however she has noted, in general, the written quality of nominations have been poor. She invited someone from the group to take Honours on as a corporate task.
Action: AFG
35. Catherine Dyer thanked Michelle Macleod and her team for their work on Cadder and indicated that the Lord Advocate has also expressed her gratitude. Catherine believes that as an organisation we can be proud of the way we have managed the issues arising from the judgement.
36. Janet Cameron asked that Areas liaise with their respective police forces on the quality of reports in anticipation of the introduction of the Sexual Offences Act 2009 on 1 December 2010.
AFG Secretariat
3 November 2010