Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service

AREA FISCALS GROUP

MINUTES OF MEETING HELD ON 3 MARCH 2010 AT

STIRLING PROCURATOR FISCAL OFFICE, CARSEVIEW HOUSE, CASTLE BUSINESS PARK, STIRLING, FK9 4SW

Present:

(Chair) Catherine Dyer, Crown Agent

Peter Collings, Deputy Chief Executive

Janet Cameron, Area Fiscal, Lanarkshire

Anne Currie, Area Fiscal, Grampian

John Dunn, Deputy Crown Agent

Janice Irvine, Director of Human Resources

Andrew Laing, Area Fiscal, Highlands & Islands

Michelle Macleod, Area Fiscal, Central

Morag McLaughlin, Area Fiscal, Lothian and Borders

Ruth McQuaid, Area Fiscal, Dumfries and Galloway

Cameron Ritchie, Area Fiscal, Fife

Lesley Thomson, Area Fiscal, Glasgow

Geri Watt, Area Fiscal, Ayrshire

John Watt, Area Fiscal, Argyll and Clyde

In attendance:

Gary Aitken , Deputy Head of HCU

Angela Farrell, Disclosure Team, Policy Division

Dr David Griffiths, District Fiscal, Dundee

Kevin McArthur, Secretary

Carol McDivitt, Information Advisor, Policy Division

Lindsey Miller, Head of Lockerbie Team

Sara Shaw, Secretary

Gertie Wallace, Head of Criminal Justice and Disclosure Team, Policy Division

Apologies:

Bridget Campbell, Non Executive Director

Tom Dysart , Area Fiscal, Tayside

John Logue, Head of Policy

Scott Pattison , Director of Operations

Welcome

1. Catherine Dyer advised that from this meeting onwards Lesley Thomson, as the Senior Area Procurator Fiscal, will Chair Area Fiscals Group with Morag McLaughlin deputising when Lesley is unavailable.

2. Cameron Ritchie was congratulated on his election as Vice president of the Law Society.

3. Lesley Thomson welcomed everyone to the meeting, in particular Angela Farrell, Carol McDivitt, Gary Aitken, David Griffiths, Gertie Wallace and Lindsey Miller.

4. Apologies were received from Bridget Campbell, Tom Dysart, John Logue and Scott Pattison.

5. The meeting congratulated Catherine Dyer on her appointment as Crown Agent.

Minutes of Previous Meeting and Matters Arising

6. The minutes of the meeting of 3 February 2010 were approved.

7. Lesley Thomson addressed the action points from the previous meeting. During discussion the following points were noted:

a) Peter Collings confirmed that FOS will be available to staff at weekends from now until the next upgrade is implemented;

b) Morag McLaughlin thanked all for their nominations to attend the Hate Crime Conference on 24 March 2010. Morag indicated that it may be possible to accommodate a small number of additional nominees;

c) The meeting agreed that an explanation of the Portfolios should be included in the next Bulletin to communicate to staff the aims and objectives of each.

Action: Peter Collings

Operational and Policy Reviews

8. The meeting noted paper AFG(10)01 which provided AFG members with an update on ongoing operational and policy work. In discussion the following points were noted:

a) Gertie Wallace advised the meeting of the significant amendments at stage two of the Criminal Justice and Licensing Bill which included disclosure, defence statements and stalking;

b) The Drink Driving Initiative is to run until the end of March;

c) The review of Complaints against the Police guidance is almost complete and should be published within the next two weeks.

Update on Corporate Portfolios

9. The meeting discussed how updates on Portfolios should be presented to Area Fiscals Group. It was agreed that a paper with details of the progress of each Portfolio, similar to current Operations and Policy Report, should be issued prior to each meeting and that Portfolio Owners should provide a short presentation to AFG at appropriate meetings.

Diversity

10. Morag McLaughlin introduced paper AFG(10)02 which provided the meeting with an update of current diversity developments and their implications for COPFS and Areas. During discussion the following points were noted:

a) The meeting were advised of Refugee Week to be held in June. Through the Equality and Diversity Working Group (EDWG) Area Diversity teams would be encouraged to participate where possible. The programme would be available on the Scottish Refugee Council Website in due course.

b) Morag acknowledged the success of the Diversity weeks in Strathclyde and indicated that EDWG are encouraging other areas to adopt a similar format. It was suggested that each Area should host at least one event per year;

c) Work is ongoing to create one action plan to meet the new Single Equality Duty which replaces the current race, disability and gender equality duties and adds age, sexual orientation and religion or belief;

d) A COPFS/ACPOS Hate Crime Conference is to be held on 24th March 2010 to launch the implementation of the new Offences (Aggravation By Prejudice)(Scotland) Act 2009. The Act will extend existing statutory aggravations to cover crimes motivated by malice or ill-will towards a victim relating to disability, sexual orientation or transgender identity. Guidance and training will be available to all staff in due course;

e) Morag McLaughlin indicated that she will meet with the Crown Prosecution Service to discuss several issues including how they have managed the raised expectations of victims under the new legislation;

f) The meeting agreed the importance of the role the Police will play in the implementation of the legislation;

g) The meeting agreed the Portfolio should renamed as "Equality and Diversity";

h) The meeting discussed the benefits of the recent joint diversity training with COPFS and Scottish Court Service.

Approach to Solemn Business

11. Lesley Thomson welcomed Gary Aitken to meeting.

12. Gary Aitken introduced paper AFG(10)03 which invited AFG to consider and comment on proposals to (i) provide delegated authority to indict Sheriff and Jury report cases to Area; (ii) set in place a seven month aspirational target for High Court cases; (iii) allow precognoscers the opportunity of attending on an annual basis at the High Court in respect of one of their cases; (iv) set in place a lead for Area clusters in relation to liaison with the SPSA on forensic instructions in High Court cases; and (v) consider the paper on Fiscal ADs. During discussion;

a) The meeting considered the risks attached to delegation authority to Areas for Sheriff and Jury Reports. The suitability of staff and training required would have to be assessed by the Area Fiscal before accreditation could be given. The possibility of Solemn Legal Managers (SLM) spending two weeks shadowing in the High Court Unit was considered. APF's agreed to collate a list of potential SLMs and to work with HCU;

b) The meeting agreed that the reasons and/or causes of precognitions being reported late to the High Court unit requires further investigation;

Action: John Dunn

c) The meeting agreed that consideration should given to revising the percentage target of cases reported to HCU within eight months rather than reducing the time allowed to report cases to seven months;

d) AFG agreed to allow precognoscers to attend one of their own cases on at least one occasion per year and clarified that this should not be as a noter or as additional assistance to the Advocate Depute;

e) Lesley Thomson nominated Glasgow Area High Court Unit to pilot a Strathclyde Gateway scheme which will involve a legal member of staff working with the SPSA national contact to prioritise forensic requests. Lesley Thomson to report back on progress;

Action: Lesley Thomson

f) The meeting acknowledged the work already done in respect of recruiting Fiscals as Advocate Deputes but agreed that more requires to be done to spot and develop potential candidates for the role. An awareness raising day will be held for members of legal staff who have an interest in becoming Advocate Deputes or want to find out more about the role. Work also must done to support Fiscal ADs during their tenure and when they return to the office;

g) Areas were encouraged to work together to provide potential Fiscal AD candidates with experience in Sheriff and Jury trials.

Action: John Dunn, Scott Pattison and Lesley Thomson

Legal Training for Law Students and COPFS Trainees

13. Lesley Thomson introduced paper AFG(10)04 which sought AFG's approval to proceed with a pilot project in Tayside following on from paper AFG(09)73 which informed AFG of changes to the legal training for law students and COPFS trainees. During discussion:

a) The meeting considered the benefits of the project to COPFS, the University and the individual;

b) The meeting was advised that the project is at an early stage and the pilot in Tayside will involve two students. Thereafter, if successful, participation in the scheme will be at the discretion of each Area Fiscal as will be the number of students taking part;

c) The meeting agreed, in principle, for Tayside to pilot the project.

Disclosure Schedules

14. Lesley Thomson welcomed Angela Farrell to the meeting.

15. Angela Farrell introduced paper AFG(10)05 which provided AFG with an update on the roll out of schedules of relevant information in solemn proceedings.

16. Angela advised the meeting that disclosure schedules have now been rolled out in all High Court cases. A review of the process was undertaken by ACPOS on 1 February 2010 which identified some issues in the operating system. The common themes, both from COPFS and ACPOS, were that the process of reviewing and completing the schedules were time-consuming and there was confusion as to what should be listed and how much detail there should be.

17. After a very productive meeting with ACPOS, several improvements to the process have been agreed and will be implemented prior to the roll out of disclosure schedules in Sheriff and Jury cases.

18. The meeting was advised that all Police Forces (with the exception of Fife Constabulary) will receive training on disclosure schedules by the end of March.

FOI Assessment and Lead Officers

19. Lesley Thomson welcomed Carol McDivitt to the meeting.

20. Carol McDivitt introduced paper AFG(10)06 which advised AFG on the forthcoming Assessment by the Scottish Information Commissioner and invited AFG to consider adding the role of Lead Officer as a corporate task. During discussion;

a) The meeting noted there would be a least one Lead Officer in each Area and they would be responsible for updating staff on relevant issues arising or new procedures to be implemented;

b) The meeting agreed to reassign the Lead Officer role as a corporate task.

Action: APFs

Deaths Review

21. Morag McLaughlin welcomed Lindsey Miller to the meeting.

22. Lindsey Miller introduced paper AFG(10)07 provided the meeting with a summary of the main conclusions fro the review of death reporting to Crown Office and the recommendations for the establishment of a National Deaths Unit for COPFS. During discussion:

a) The meeting noted that the new National Deaths Unit will be advised of all deaths requiring further investigation at an early stage and will assume responsibility for issues arising under Article 2;

b) It was noted that the National Deaths Unit will provide an opportunity to have a national standard and consistent approach to the investigation of deaths;

c) It was agreed that Lindsey's full report would be placed on the AFG Forum for comment by the end of March 2010.

VIA Letter

23. Geri Watt introduced paper AFG(10)08 which sought the agreement of AFG to consolidate and amend the letters issued by VIA in Petition cases where Crown Counsel recommend no further proceedings and to trial use of the revised letter with an office or area.

24. It was agreed the letter would be piloted in Ayrshire and Argyll & Clyde.

Civil Service People Survey

25. Janice Irvine presented the meeting with an overview of the outcomes from the recent Civil Service People Survey. Janice indicated the survey measured the attachment the employee has to their organisation and that it is useful tool in establishing where we are in relation to other comparable organisations. During discussion:

a) Areas were encouraged to acknowledge the outcomes of the survey and to advise staff what steps will be taken to address issues arising from it;

b) The meeting was advised that the People Strategy Action Group (PSAG) will be working on the outcomes of the Survey to produce an Action Plan;

c) Several options were considered to facilitate staff to feel safer to challenge decisions taken in COPFS, including setting up an anonymous telephone line through Employee Assistance;

d) The meeting was advised that after the success of the Just About Managing sessions four more events have been created.

Communications

26. Morag McLaughlin introduced papers AFG(10)09,10 & 11 which updated AFG members on the Media Planner, Media Cases Planner and the Communications Planner. AFG members noted these papers and identified significant items arising from the meeting for inclusion in the March Bulletin

Management Briefing

27. The meeting noted the regular Management Reports.

Performance and Workload

28. The meeting noted the usual Performance and Workload papers AFG(10)12 (Healthcheck) and AFG(09)13 (Target Summary) which provided AFG with an overview of the Service's performance against targets and workload and an overall view of the main performance targets from April 2009. The meeting noted that overall performance is good and all targets are being met.

AOB

29. Cameron Ritchie advised that the British Heart Foundation, along with the Department of Health, launched the Genetic Information Service on 6 April 2009. The service aims to help relatives of someone who has died suddenly of a presumed genetically determined heart condition to gain access to assessment in a specialist centre. Since its launch the service has not been used to its full potential. Cameron asked Area Procurators Fiscal to provide their views on how we should proceed.

Action: APFs

30. Catherine Dyer thanked all who contributed to the Self Assessment Pilot. AFG were reminded this will be rolled out in April.

AFG Secretariat

3 March 2010