The Scottish Government

1. Portfolio/Number/Name:COPFS / 1 / Summary Justice Reform

2. Programme/Activity:

Reform of Summary Justice System. More efficient disposal of cases by making increased use of alternatives to prosecution and by trying some cases in lower level courts eg cases previously held in the sheriff courts may be heard in district courts, at lower cost.

3. Efficiency

3.1 Target; £m

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

Cash

1.92

3.7

not estimated

3.2 Efficiencies delivered; £m

2008-09

2009-10

2010-11

Cash

Time

4. Accountable Officer for delivery

5. Project Manager

6. EGDD Portfolio Manager

7.1 What is the efficiency improvement? How will the efficiencies be made?

Alternatives to prosecution will deliver efficiencies by using Direct Measures rather than prosecution through the courts. There are three main strands to the reform:

1) There will be a reduction in the number of cases that are reported to COPFS, due to the increased use of Direct Measures by the police, (e.g. written warnings and fixed penalties). These are cases that, until the end of 2007/08 will/ would have been processed through District Court or have been the subject of Direct Measures by the Fiscal;

2) There will be a reduction in the number of cases that go to court due to the increased use of COPFS Direct Measures, (e.g. fiscal fines and fixed penalties). It is also expected that there will be a reduction in the level of work at Sheriff Summary Courts, with cases moving to the less expensive to run District Courts; and

3) A reduction in the number of cases which fiscals consider before taking 'No Proceedings'.

It is also expected that there will be a reduction in 'churn', ie repeated intermediate and trial diets and in the number of witnesses cited. This is difficult to assess at present but should lead to savings later in the EG programme period.

The year 1 saving includes the estimated cost of rationalising legal grade pay.

7.2 What are the main actions that are needed to secure the delivery of this efficiency improvement?

Actions have been put in place to ensure delivery of SJR efficiencies. In particular, legislation has been passed to raise the level of fiscal fines to £300, and to introduce fiscal compensation offers up to £5,000 and combined fiscal fine and fiscal compensation offers, with a more efficient system of enforcement Detailed guidance on the use of these increased Direct Measure powers has been produced for Procurators Fiscal. The law has changed so that recipients of Direct Measures must actively challenge any Direct Measure offered to them, the absence of such challenge being deemed to be acceptance making them enforceable. This will decrease the number of Direct Measures which fail and result in a subsequent court case. Improved training for Justices of the Peace, to encourage full use of their sentencing powers, new Road Traffic sentencing powers equivalent to the Sheriff Court, and guidance to Procurators Fiscal to reinforce the use of the lowest court forum, have also been put in place to allow a shift in business from Sheriff Summary to District/Justice of the Peace courts.

8.1 Are there any development or redundancy costs associated with the delivery of this efficiency?

There are no development or redundancy costs.

9.1 What are the inputs that will be measured?

For alternatives to prosecution, the legal resources that are required to prosecute cases compared to those that are currently needed. The expectation is that the justice system will be able to process cases more quickly and effectively as well as more cheaply.

9.2 What are the outputs that will be measured?

The outputs over the EG reporting period will focus on the areas of efficiency improvement identified at section 7.1 above. It is likely to take time before the full impact of SJR is turned into the full efficiency savings. However, by the end of year two of the programme we expect to have generated £3.7m savings as follows:

A reduction in overall case numbers coming to COPFS and related costs. This will be measured against throughput in 2007/08 and applied to the most up to date, published figures, for cost per case in District Courts. This is considered the most appropriate method since the bulk of cases that will no longer come to COPFS would have previously been dealt with through plea at District Court.

A reduction in accused cases marked as 'no proceedings'. This will be measured by applying actual numbers in the EG reporting period against the number of cases marked as such in 2007/08, and by applying accepted weighted notional costs to the total COPFS budget.

An increase in COPFS direct measures leading to a reduction in the workload at Sheriff Courts, with cases moving to the cheaper to run District Courts. This will be measured by establishing average costs for Sheriff and District court costs using the most up to date costs per case published government and national data on caseloads at 2007/08, and using caseloads in the reporting period to determine the EG savings.

9.3 What is the baseline for inputs and outputs?

The baseline for inputs and outputs are the number of cases in 2007/08 and their associated costs. This will include separately identifying 2007/08 caseloads in the different courts to help provide a calculation on whether these measures have successfully reduced the cost of processing the relevant categories of offence.

10.1 What quality indicators are being used to ensure that quality of service is maintained or improved?

COPFS will monitor the impact of change in Sheriff summary sentencing powers to see if there is any evidence of 'sentencing drift', where increased sentencing powers means that longer sentences than before are imposed for the same offences. If this has proven to have occurred there may be a number of consequences including an impact on the EG calculations and we would need to reconsider these in the light of any corrective action that might be taken.

11.1 What are the arrangements for monitoring the delivery of efficiencies?

12.1 What are the arrangements for reporting the delivery of efficiencies?

13.1 Explain if your efficiencies are dependent on legislation or other structural changes being achieved.

The expected efficiencies are supported by legislation which has received Royal Assent - the Criminal Proceedings Etc (Reform) (Scotland) Act 2007 - partially commenced on 10 December 2007 and which will come fully into force on 10 March 2008.

14.1 How are the efficiencies released from improvement activity being used to improve services?

This efficiency was assumed as part of the allocation made by the Scottish Government to COPFS. This freed up resources for Ministers to allocate to their priorities.