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7 Management Issues

Leadership

Leadership is a way of focusing and motivating others to enable them to contribute toward the success and effectiveness of the organisation for which they work. It also involves being accountable and responsible for the group as a whole.

A leader should provide inspiration and drive and be flexible in managing changes of direction.

The Highlands and Islands Area structure is based on the Crown Office grading structure. Staff know who their line manager is. The Inverness office is open plan which allows easy communication and the other offices are small enough that staff speak to each other on a daily basis. There are video conferencing facilities in all the offices in the Area.

All senior staff have attended the mandatory Leadership Development Programme.

The Area office is located in the Inverness Office. The Area Fiscal and Area Business Manager perform office audits and their goal is to do one joint visit and one each per annum in every office. During these visits they will meet with staff and discuss various issues such as performance etc and complete standards forms of which examples were provided to the Inspectorate for review. There has been a slight slippage to this recently but they hope to complete a full cycle of visits in year 2008/09. The Area Team also perform short informal visits to the offices and complete a 'short visit' form.

We were informed that the Area Team encourage staff to manage their own offices and only involve them when there is a need. They try to present themselves as approachable which can be evidenced by the Area Fiscal occasionally helping out with courts and recently the Area Business Manager acted as the High Court Manager.

The Highlands and Islands Area hold District Fiscal meetings and Office Manager meetings three or four times per annum. Team Briefings are also carried out on a monthly basis where staff can discuss all current issues relating to work etc. This includes the Office Manager at Lochmaddy visiting Stornoway once a month for a meeting with the staff there.

In addition to this the Area's own newsletter the 'Highlands and Islands Lights' is issued on a quarterly basis. This includes various information and updates such as:

• Staffing
• Issues relating to various aspects of work eg Summary Justice Reform, Disclosure, Case Marking, etc
• Health and Safety
• Target Achievement
• Particular issues relating to Highlands and Islands such as 'Highlands R Us 2008'

Information is also circulated to staff as and when there is a need and communication takes place easily through use of e-mail. There is also the use of video conferencing for which there are facilities throughout the Area, although staff indicated there can be the occasional problem with it.

Staff interviewed felt that information on the Intranet is very helpful although some items may require to be updated to show changes in practice which had already been communicated through staff circulars. In addition we were informed that staff do not always have time to read national guidelines in full due to other commitments.

In 2007 Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service conducted a staff survey. 74% of staff across the country took part and 33 members of staff from Highlands and Islands took part.

Overall the Highlands and Islands scoring is more favourable in many areas compared with the average score for the whole of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. With regard to leadership 44% of respondents compared with a national score of 46% felt that senior managers in their work area are sufficiently visible and 47% compared with a national score of 40% indicated that they have confidence in their senior manager. However, 41% of respondents indicated that stress had a negative impact on their work which is significantly higher than the average national score of 28%.

A more full analysis of the staff survey can be found at Appendix 4.

Staff Management

Having the right number of staff at the right time is vital in ensuring that objectives can be achieved. Management should perform a staffing needs assessment which will allow identification of numbers required to fulfil the business obligations. Procedures should be put in place to manage staff in order that they can perform their duties in an efficient and effective manner.

As part of the business planning process the Area Business Manager in consultation with the Area Fiscal and other staff ¹⁸ review previous and expected workloads to identify staffing requirements. The Area consists of nine manned offices eight of which have three and a half or less members of staff. The Area therefore has to use resilience flexibility to meet the needs of business.

A diagram showing the staffing structure in the Highlands and Islands Area can be found at Chapter 1.

The Area Fiscal indicated that it is challenging trying to spread resources across the Area and to recruit staff that are willing to travel around. The following are examples of how flexible staff have to be:

• the District Fiscal from Dingwall is also responsible for Portree
• the District Fiscal from Kirkwall is responsible for Lerwick although the Depute at Lerwick performs all legal duties there
• the Depute from Dingwall covers Tain and undertakes most of the work from Portree
• the District Fiscal from Tain is responsible for Wick and currently does most of the Wick legal duties in the absence of a Depute
• the District Fiscal at Stornoway is responsible for Lochmaddy and performs all legal duties in these offices
• the District Fiscal from Fort William performs, in addition to her Fort William responsibilities, various Area type work eg Complaints Against the Police
• the District Fiscal at Inverness manages a rota ¹⁹ of covering courts in the Area using his own Deputes (one of which was extra provided by the Area for resilience). As a result of his staff covering court duties he does much of the marking, deals with enquiries, correspondence, disclosure and also covers courts in Inverness
• The Precognition officer from Inverness also provides assistance to Fort William

Some of the Office Managers also hold commissions from the Lord Advocate that allow them to process business through court in the absence of a legal member of staff.

The District Fiscals at Kirkwall and Stornoway along with the Depute in Lerwick work an on call rota covering the three islands. This has its own difficulties with geography for example if there is an emergency on Stornoway and the Lerwick Depute is on call it is too difficult to get to Stornoway so the District Fiscal in Stornoway will be called.

There is a lot of "juggling about" in the Area which is a result of there being small offices in the Area with few members of staff trying to cover leave, training etc. Some staff indicated that they are finding it difficult to cope and many indicated that a little bit of extra help would be beneficial. In the two-man offices staff try to ensure that holidays are taken during court holidays and that both are not off at the same time.

It is strongly felt by staff in the Area that there is a lack of sufficient resilience to cover leave etc and there is extra pressure with the additional workload of disclosure (see Chapter 4) and the impact a High Court case has on a small office. There have been problems associated with providing administrative support. We were advised that the floating administrative staff member was so in demand that help could not always be given.

In addition to this the Area contributed to helping out other Areas, for example, in case marking. This was all having a significant effect on staff morale and some were finding it particularly stressful. It was felt that there was too much reliance on goodwill. The 2007 staff survey showed that 41% of respondents in Highlands and Islands indicated that stress had a negative effect on their work compared to a national average of 28%.

We were advised that many members of staff worked additional hours in the evenings and at weekends. We obtained figures from the Inverness office relating to lost time for which they were not paid:

The above table shows that over the three month period staff in Inverness lost 214.78 hours for which they were not paid. The majority of the time lost related to the District Fiscal and Office Manager who lost 101.14 and 40.90 hours respectfully. Figures also provided by the District Fiscal for period ending 2 May 2008 showed that he worked and lost 56.33 hours in that one month.

Many other members of staff in the Area indicated that they generally lost excess flexible hours and indeed many staff informed us that they no longer used the flexi machine because they did not want to be reminded of the hours they were working and losing. This was indicative of all offices in the Highlands and Islands Area. We were informed by staff that the only reason targets were being met was because of extra hours worked and even at that some targets were not being met (see Chapter 3).

Overtime was occasionally approved by the Area Team which helped offices to manage the business. None of the above figures included paid overtime hours.

Some of the staff interviewed were very positive about the situation and stated that it came with the territory. Some would even visit their office while on holiday to catch up with things. All managers were aware of the situation and encouraged staff to take the time off but staff themselves knew that if they did take the time back or did not work these hours there would be a drastic effect on the operation of the business.

We were also informed that many staff were carrying forward annual leave far more than the carry forward allowance of 9 days. For example the District Fiscal at Inverness had a carry forward figure of 24.5 at the end of March 2008, the Principal Depute in Inverness had 22.5, the District Fiscal at Kirkwall had 21.5. Administrative staff were also being affected by this, for example at the same end period the Office Manager in Stornoway had a carry forward of 17, the Office Manager at Wick had 19, etc. We became aware that at least one member of staff had lost annual leave which was in excess to the 9 days that can be carried over. On examination of the Staff Handbook it was noted that excess leave could only be paid on resignation, retirement, medical retirement or death. The Area should therefore make attempts to ensure that all staff take the leave that they are due as it is important that they have a chance to refresh.

It was acknowledged by the Area that most targets were being met based on willingness and flexibility on part of staff and the Area Team would like to show support for staff by providing additional resources to relieve intense pressure during periods of leave and sickness absence.

The Area Management Team should ensure that priority is given to reviewing the situation relating to leave and excess hours with a view to putting a system in place as soon as possible that would allow staff to take time off without worrying about the work not getting done.

The Area was hoping to use additional resourcing made available as part of the 2008/09 budget round to create resilience in administrative posts and in addition make use of down time from the typing staff doing work for Glasgow and Lothian and Borders that are located in Dingwall and Tain. We have since been advised that the Area is advertising for a part-time Fiscal Officer for Wick, Stornoway, Lerwick and Dingwall. This should go a long way to helping with the administration burden that small offices have.

The Area Management Team indicated that they had been heavily loaded in terms of legal managers to Deputes and this was addressed by reducing the complement of legal managers to Depute posts. Staff in the Area advised that such changes have had an effect on staff morale and also on the communities themselves.

We were advised that two of the most challenging offices are in Wick and Lerwick in that the Deputes have to deal with all types of work including deaths, Sheriff and Juries, High Court etc. As a result these posts will be upgraded to Senior Depute posts.

We were also informed that it was difficult to recruit legal staff to the isolated offices. The Area did try to promote Highlands and Islands by arranging summer placements. In 2007 there was a Depute placement which was very successful and this year they have decided to invite administrative staff. This partly helps with providing cover, gives Area staff a chance to catch up and also gives those attending a chance to work in areas in which they may have no experience. The Area hoped that it might also help with recruitment in the future if staff on placement enjoyed their experience in a small office.

A particular problem for the Area was that there had been no locally based legal cover at Wick for some time. This meant that the District Fiscal in Tain did a lot of the Wick work and therefore the Inverness office had to provide extra help to Tain. The Office Manager at Wick informed us that the situation was causing her concern and indeed many of the criminal justice partners in the Area were keen to let us know of their concern.

We asked whether there were adequate resources to allow staff to perform their duties in an efficient and effective manner. We were advised that the IT system was liked but it could be very slow in processing cases in the remote offices which had an effect on continuity of business and could be frustrating for staff. The system did however allow remote marking of cases which allows cases such as custodies to be marked remotely within their on call zones in the absence of a legal member of staff. The 2007 staff survey showed that only 33% respondents from Highlands and Islands indicated that IT helped them work effectively compared with a national score of 45%. We have been informed that the Information Systems Division is looking into the efficiency of the IT system for the Area.

With regards to accommodation some of the offices are cramped, for example, in Dingwall there was no spare room to meet with relatives or to precognose witnesses. The office in Wick for the legal member of staff currently housed all the computer equipment which could be noisy and uncomfortable. The office in Tain was currently not fit for purpose. The Area is aware of the issues surrounding accommodation and where necessary Estates Management at Crown Office are asked to look at these, for example, the Fort William office has recently moved to new accommodation because of lack of space.

Many of the offices are housed in buildings which are the responsibility of the Scottish Court Service where space is limited. Wherever possible efforts were made to identify alternative premises or other solutions, for example, a space planner has been commissioned by Crown Office Estates to scope suitable layouts for the Dingwall office. We were advised that a mock exercise was carried out last year at Lerwick to test their Business Continuity Plan and a test will be carried out in Wick during 2008/09.

The Area follows the Crown Office 'Attendance Management Scheme'. Line Managers perform back to work interviews and Office Managers collate forms and forward them to Crown Office Human Resources and send copies to the Area Business Manager. Resilience funds were used to help cover sickness absence. The Area Business Manager would only be involved if there was a concern. If managers were aware of specific issues relating to an individual they would liaise with Human Resources to ensure that the most appropriate support was provided.

There was a system of performance appraisal which provided staff with feedback on their work performance. The Learning Academy was used for this purpose and it was found to be difficult in terms of accessing the system to complete sections of the performance reports and as a result legal and Precognition Officers in Inverness received 'informal' mid-year reviews. Staff have been advised that this system will no longer be used for this purpose. The 2007 staff survey results showed that 58% of respondents from Highlands and Islands indicated that they received regular feedback compared with a national score of 43%.

The Area observed Departmental policies relating to recruitment of 'Band B' posts. Adverts are placed in local papers, job centres and with various ethnic minority groups. Work experience is also encouraged in the Area. The Area Team took responsibility for recruitment in most offices although staff have indicated that they would like to be more involved in, for example, being part of the board interviewing candidates for their own offices.

The 2007 staff survey also showed that only 60% of line managers compared with a national score of 90% felt they have the skills and abilities to manage their team while 47% of respondents said they had confidence in their senior managers compared with a national score of 40%. 55% said that they were motivated or inspired by their manager and 70% felt their line manager communicated effectively.

Further to this only 27% felt appropriately rewarded for the work they do which did compare better than the national score of 19%. 82% felt a sense of personal achievement and 68% felt that the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service is a good place to work. These compared favourably with national scores of 62% and 52% respectfully.

63% of respondents felt that their work/life balance was right although as stated above 41% felt stress had a negative impact on their work.

The staff survey results are indicative of what we highlighted earlier in that staff do try to remain positive in their work but significantly more than the national average felt stressed.

A more full analysis of the 2007 staff survey can be found at Appendix 5.

Training

It is important that staff are provided with appropriate training to help ensure that they can perform their operational work in an effective and efficient manner.

The Area does not have a Training Committee. Because of their unique geographical situation training tends to be more ad hoc and as and when there is a particular need. However, the Area Team ensured that all mandatory training is attended by appropriate staff in the Area and a spreadsheet was maintained which showed staff attendance on courses.

Training can be very costly for the Highlands and Islands Area both in terms of expenditure and time away from the office. This required careful planning to ensure continuity of staff. However, providing cover was not always possible for example, staff in the more remote offices such as Lerwick or Wick needed to take three days out of the office to attend a half day course at Glasgow. This inevitably had a knock on effect on the operation of the business in their offices. Although staff indicated that the Prosecution College in Glasgow was a good resource and that it allowed them to meet with staff from other Areas many felt that the time away to attend courses at Glasgow was too much. They knew that cover could not be provided and they would have a lot of work to catch up on their return. There was also the impact of personal time away from families to be considered.

In order to mitigate these issues Area Management invited training staff from the Glasgow Prosecution College to attend the Inverness office to provide training there given that there is an Area conference facility available. This reduced the need for staff to travel far distances. The Area also tried to arrange training during District Fiscal and Office Manager meetings thus reducing the need for further travel. The Glasgow location was satisfactory for Stornoway staff as there are a few daily flights available to Glasgow. E-learning was also mentioned by some staff as being perhaps a way forward.

There had been substantial training recently as a result of recent changes in procedure for example Vulnerable Witnesses Act, Summary Justice Reform and Disclosure. This had had a significant impact on the time staff have been away from the office and also resulted in high travel and subsistence costs which were monitored by the Area Business Manager (see Financial Management below).

The Area provided as far as possible a chance for staff to be provided with opportunities to perform different areas of work. In the main this opportunity was offered to staff in Inverness given that staff in the smaller offices had to deal with all aspects of work anyway. There was a rotation policy in the Inverness office where Deputes provided resilience for the smaller offices and therefore got the chance to deal with other areas of work and trainee solicitors were provided the opportunity to manage the High Court (which was also offered to the precognition staff). The District Fiscal at Inverness stood in for the Area Fiscal.

The Office Manager at Wick was nominated by the Area to be a member of the 'Careering Ahead ²⁰' working group.

Staff in smaller offices indicated that recent training had been a particular drain on resources. Given that they had to cover all aspects of the business they needed to be aware of all changes that took place and attend all relevant training. In the larger offices certain training could be focussed on one particular team.

The Area was looking into sharing a training resource with Grampian and Tayside Areas. It was hoped that this person would also be responsible for VIA resilience over the Areas.

The Area had an electronic induction package for new recruits which was designed to be delivered on their first day.

Some District Fiscals got involved in training other agencies, for example, police probationers, new hospital doctors, GPs. This included discussions on the role of the Procurator Fiscal and quality of reports. They also got involved in ad hoc training, for example, to the police on child witnesses or talks to Hospital staff on Fatal Accident Enquiries or the Social Work on 'being a witness'.

In addition to this Area staff were designated a specialism eg Wildlife, Environment, Sea Fisheries, Confiscation etc.

The 2007 staff survey showed that 82% of respondents from Highlands and Islands felt that the learning opportunities available provided them with the skills and knowledge to do their job and 67% felt that Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service was committed to training and development of staff. Both these scores compare favourably with the national scores of 53% and 39% respectfully. 48% felt there were opportunities to progress in their careers compared with a national score of 32%. Again Highlands and Islands faired better in this respect (see Appendix 5).

Financial Management and Budgetary Control

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Budget Manual states that the Area Fiscal (or Budget Holder) is responsible for financial control of the Area. The Area Business Manager is the member of staff designated by the Area Fiscal to monitor expenditure and budgets on his behalf and participate in the annual budgeting exercise. Explanations for deviations from planned spending patterns should be reported to the Management Board at Crown Office.

The Area Business Manager was responsible for creating the financial budget as part of the business planning process. Financial needs were identified by looking at current staffing, current and expected workloads, trends, new initiatives, etc. The budget consisted of staffing costs, office related costs and case related costs. The draft business plan including the financial plan was shared with staff and feedback was taken into consideration, for example staff were encouraged to let management know if there was likely to be any unusual spend, for example, a witness travelling from a far distance which would incur high costs or if there were large cases. The proposed budget and business plan is passed to the Area Fiscal for approval before being forwarded to Crown Office.

The Area Business Manager was also responsible for monitoring expenditure on a monthly basis. He received monthly financial reports from Finance Division and checked actual expenditure against planned expenditure. Detailed pay reports were also supplied. This information was now available on screen in the Area Business Network folder of the G Drive. This allows him to look at various screens, for example, forecasts, staffing costs and transaction reports which allowed him to drill down into each transaction if required. He looked for any unexpected costs and would make enquiries where necessary.

The Area Business Manager also maintained his own spreadsheet which showed expenditure over a period of time.

Checks were made during office visits by the Area Business Manager to ensure that funds were used properly. This involved examining invoices to ensure proper segregation of duties and that they had been authorised by appropriate members of staff. Where cash was held he would count it and initial the cashbook to that effect.

High Court cases can have a significant impact on case related expenditure. Given that High Court cases are heard in various locations on the mainland witnesses are required to travel far distances mainly by plane and require overnight accommodation. In one case we were advised of witnesses travelling from Australia to attend a High Court case and in fact this particular case alone had totalled almost 10% of case related costs for the year 2007/08. Staff were encouraged to highlight to the Area Team cases where there was likely to be a high cost involved.

Training also had a significant impact on expenditure for the Area. Again the geography of the Area is the main factor relating to this. The Area Team would try to organise training at the Inverness thus reducing the need to travel to the Scottish Prosecution College in Glasgow. However, even travelling to Inverness meant they needed to be away for more than a day and require overnight accommodation (see also 'Training').

The Area has indicated that it managed to operate within the financial resources provided and that a reserve (from underspend on salaries and resilience funds) allowed them to be flexible and employ temporary staff to cover absence. They did however indicate that additional financial resources from 2008/09 funding should help fund full time staff. We have since been informed that further administrative posts have been advertised, two Depute posts have been upgraded to Senior Depute and a Band C VIA member of staff will be appointed.

Budgets for stationery items have been delegated to some of the offices in the Area. There are certain limits in which to spend and this is monitored by the Area Business Manager.

Office Managers have responsibility for the Government Procurement Card and they can also approve invoices up to £500 which is within the Crown Office delegated limits. The Area Business Manager countersigned the GPC statements every month for all the offices and during this process he would check for unusual expenditure and make enquiries if necessary.

Office Managers and District Fiscals approved invoices up to certain amounts in accordance with Crown Office delegated limits. Any invoices over these limits were passed to the Area Business Manager for approval. We were advised that finances are discussed at Area Management Meetings and may also be included in the Area newsletter 'H&I Lights'.

Examples of action taken to reduce costs included video conferencing to avoid the need for travel and digital dictation which allowed digital files to be transmitted via e-mail for transcription. There had also been a reduction in the number of printers in the Area and some staff indicated that they print duplex rather than single sided and used scrap paper for draft copies. One office advised that letters to local solicitors are hand delivered rather than posted. Another example was the new telephone system.

The Area also hoped to achieve savings through early identification of cases involving vulnerable witnesses where use of remote sites would result in less travel and subsistence costs. They also tried to ensure that expert witnesses were only cited when there was an absolute need and would continue efforts throughout the Area to resolve cases earlier in the process to reduce the need to cite witnesses at all. The latter effort may be helped by proposed changes to the legal aid system which could result in earlier guilty pleas.

Risk Management

The objective of risk management is to identify and make provisions to reduce risks related to the business.

The Area Business Manager was responsible for creating and maintaining a risk register for the Area. This was approved by the Area Fiscal and was updated as and when necessary taking account of new initiatives and processes. Identification of risks was part of the Business Planning Process. The Area Business Manager examines risks on a monthly basis and formally reviews them on a quarterly basis although risks were generally assessed on a day to day basis. Where necessary changes would be made immediately but the risk register would be updated during the formal review. Changes were disseminated to staff through management meetings, team briefings and office visits.

A copy of the current risk register was provided and it was found to be based on Strategic, Area and Office objectives. All appropriate areas of the business were addressed and the register details controls that should allow key planned activities to be met along with timescales for review.

The main risks identified by the Area were fragile staff resilience associated with the large geographical area, the impact of the Vulnerable Witnesses Act, Disclosure, increase in solemn work and impact of large complex or serious criminal cases. The Area had to ensure that there was adequate cover during absence and to deal with increased workloads as a result of changes in business processes (see also Staff Management).

Within the offices themselves all staff had a responsibility for ensuring health and safety within the work place. Such issues were discussed at Team Briefings and action would be taken where there was a need. For example, informing the Crown Office Security Officer or Health and Safety Manager of concerns. A recent example of action taken was a screen installed in the Wick Sheriff Court because the witness box was felt to be too close to the Fiscal.

All staff also had a responsibility to assess work pressures and inform management where problems existed which might cause targets not to be met. This should allow action to be taken to address issues identified. An example of this was the lack of staff resilience (see Staff Management).

Change Management

Change management entails thoughtful planning and sensitive implementation, and above all, consultation with and involvement of, the people affected by the changes. Change must be realistic, achievable and measurable.

Change management in the Highlands and Islands Area consists of planning, consultation and implementation including training requirements. Staff were involved in the process of planning and their ideas and concerns were taken on board. All staff interviewed indicated that they were kept up to date with change through team briefings and management meetings and also through notices on the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Intranet.

Examples of issues/events that have caused change in the Area include:

• Disclosure
• FOS2
• Vulnerable Witnesses Act
• Summary Justice Reform
• New telephone system

We were advised that there had been problems with some of the recent changes. For example, FOS2 was slow to respond which affected the efficiency of business and could be frustrating, however, this was being looked into by Information Systems Division. Another example was disclosure which had had a huge impact on workload and some offices found it difficult to meet targets in relation to this (see Chapter 4 - Disclosure).

Staff indicated that some changes such as the Vulnerable Witnesses Act had caused a lot of extra work.

Other changes such as Summary Justice Reform involved major discussions with local criminal justice partners, for example, the Police and Sheriff Court Service. It was hoped that these provisions would allow for a more efficient method of processing cases and staff advised that they had noticed a decrease in the number of cases in diet courts as a result of marking cases for direct measures.

All recent changes such as those mentioned above had involved considerable training taking staff away from their operational business, however, the Area was in a fortunate position to have dedicated staff that who would travel around to cover courts etc and work extra unpaid hours to catch up although we have been advised that this was causing a strain (see Training and Staff Management).

The Area had conducted many process reviews. The Area Business Manager advised that he applied the principles of project management to these. For example, the Area looked into setting up an Area High Court Unit. Various options were considered such as keeping the process as it stands with District Fiscals dealing with their own cases, to having one High Court Unit or to having three High Court Units (South Highland, Central Highland and Western Isles, North Highlands and Northern Isles). Staff were consulted on this matter. The preferred option was to have three High Court Units. Management agreed that this option would ensure that experience was spread throughout the Area and it also shared the administrative and precognition support. One of the main concerns, however, was in respect of travel and subsistence for staff and witnesses travelling to specific locations requiring use of various types of transport and needing overnight stays. In essence there will be a higher cost associated with this.

Further to this the Area looked at setting up an Area Deaths Unit but a decision was made to keep the process as it was (see Chapter 6 - Deaths). Similarly they looked at creating a Case Marking Unit but it was decided to revisit this after Summary Justice Review measures were put in place. The Area also had plans to scope the possibility of setting up a 'virtual call centre' with dedicated staff to deal with calls.

Other process reviews have been conducted over the past few years and more are planned for 2008/09, for example the Inverness office will review how its workload is managed before, during and after Summary Justice Reform changes with a view to ensuring the most effective and efficient processes are in place. Results of all process reviews are placed on the Highlands and Islands Area page on the Intranet which all staff have access to.

Complaints Handling

There are Area guidelines available to staff on complaints handling. This document details a chart of steps to take when a complaint is received and who should deal with the complaint.

The Area uses the RESPOND system to record complaints. Verbal complaints may be dealt with either in person or on the telephone at the time. All written complaints are brought to the attention of the District Fiscals to deal with and every effort is made to resolve them within the Crown Office 21 day target. If complaints are not resolved locally then they are passed to the Area. The Area PA keeps a register of complaints for the Area.

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