| CHAPTER 8: COSTS |
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| 8.1 All the
Group’s recommendations would have resource costs.
This chapter considers how they could be met. |
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| 8.2 Most of
the recommendations require the criminal justice
organisations, and the legal profession, to consider
specific aspects of the way they treat vulnerable and
intimidated witnesses - and, if necessary, to codify
and refine their practices. While these recommendations
have resource implications, the Group considers that they
are minor and that the organisations involved should be
able to implement the recommendations, if necessary in a
phased way, without significant disturbance to their
normal work. |
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| 8.3 The
Group has recommended that research should be carried out
to assess the impact of measures already taken to help
witnesses, and identify what more is needed
(Recommendations 1, 2, 7, 15, 17 and 20). The Group
estimates the likely cost of that research as £130,000.
The Scottish Office has recently published a new Crime
and Criminal Justice Research Programme and some of the
Group’s recommended research could be funded as part
of that programme. It is likely, however, that additional
resources would be required to fulfil all the
Group’s research recommendations. |
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| 8.4
Recommendation 19 concerns the publicity campaign.
The Group has not estimated the precise costs of the
campaign - but these are unlikely to exceed the
£500,000 costs of a previous publicity campaign on
domestic violence, which has some similar features. The
Group understands that it may be possible to fund the
campaign in part at least from The Scottish Office’s
crime prevention budget. |
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| 8.5
Recommendation 4 concerns the extension of the pilot
Witness Support Schemes which have operated at
3 sheriff courts. The Group noted that this was
likely to cost £750,000 per annum; additional
resources would be required to implement that
recommendation. |
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| 8.6 Extra
resources would also be needed if Recommendation 11
(about augmenting protection for intimidated witnesses,
subject to the results of a current research project) is
to be implemented. The Group was not in a position to
estimate the costs, pending further consideration with
the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland
about precisely how protection might be provided. |
