Chamber and committees

In any case in which proceedings on indictment are instructed, either in the High Court or in the Sheriff Court, the final decision regarding the charge or charges to be libelled in the indictment is taken by Crown Counsel after careful consideration of all available evidence and the law applicable to the case. Crown Counsel consider each case on its own merits.

The basis of the costs requested are explained below. The total anticipated annual salaries costs for Scottish Ministers (based on the actual salaries paid to Scottish Ministers and the Scottish Law Officers) is £697,539. Office facilities costs are £312,913 which includes accommodation costs. The cost of cars and drivers are a little more difficult to calculate. Based on the usage of the service since the establishment of the Parliament it is anticipated that the cost will be around £300,000. Support staff costs are around £994,000. These costs are met from within the overall provision made for administration.

The Scottish Prison Service has taken into account this Report, and other information about staff views, in developing the Human Resources strategy contained in its Corporate Plan.

The Scottish Prison Service has taken into account this Report, and other information about staff views, in developing the Human Resources strategy contained in its Corporate Plan.

Police authorities receive a specific grant of 51% of net eligible expenditure. From 1996-97 the level of grant has been subject to a cash-limit.

The budgets for individual police forces are set by police authorities or joint boards and are not always set to claim the full amount of grant available.

The table shows the amount of specific grant paid to police authorities from 1979-80 to 1997-98. The figure for 1997-98 includes £3.5m provided specifically for policing the Commonwealth Heads of Government meeting.

Year	Police Grant (Real Terms) £000s	Year-on-Year Increase/(Decrease) £000s	Year-on-Year % Change
1979-80	198,390
1980-81	201,812	3,422	1.72
1981-82	211,212	9,400	4.66
1982-83	223,367	12,155	5.75
1983-84	228,712	5,345	2.39
1984-85	235,366	6,654	2.91
1985-86	234,798	(568)	(0.24)
1986-87	244,269	9,471	4.03
1987-88	254,014	9,745	3.99
1988-89	260,094	6,080	2.63
1989-90	276,577	16,483	6.09
1990-91	274,754	(1,823)	(0.66)
1991-92	281,618	6,864	2.50
1992-93	295,198	13,580	4.82
1993-94	307,368	12,170	4.12
1994-95	306,716	(652)	(0.21)
1995-96	312,031	5,315	1.73
1996-97	311,629	(402)	(0.13)
1997-98	337,931	26,302	8.44
1998-99	337,500	(431)	(0.13)
1999-00	343,316	5,816	1.72

The cash figures have been recalculated to show the equivalent real term figures at 1998-99 prices using the GDP deflator.The figures for 1998-99 and 1999-00 are estimates

We keep the law governing criminal procedure and evidence under constant review. Technical discrepancies can be overlooked; but only the Lord Advocate and the courts can judge when such procedural errors make court proceedings inappropriate or unsafe.

The circumstances of the death of Ian Godley are being kept under regular review. Matters affecting the deployment of police officers to investigate crime are for the local police commander and not the Lord Advocate. In accordance with the usual practice in cases of suspicious death, investigation of the circumstances of Mr Godley's death was carried out by the police under the direction of the Procurator Fiscal. The Procurator Fiscal reported the results for the instructions of Crown Counsel, who instructed a number of specific further enquiries to be carried out by both the Procurator Fiscal and the police. These did not yield sufficient evidence to enable proceedings to be brought. It is considered that all avenues of enquiry have been explored, but the case remains open and will be reviewed if further evidence emerges.

The Scottish Executive is concerned to ensure that the criminal justice system recognises and meets victims needs. There is existing research on victims' views of, and satisfaction with, the criminal justice system.

The Scottish Executive is concerned to ensure that the criminal justice system recognises and meets victims needs. There is existing research on victims' views of, and satisfaction with, the criminal justice system.

Preliminary work on estimating the cost of answering Scottish Parliamentary Questions suggests an average cost of about £100 per question - a figure that is consistent with evidence from the UK Parliament. This takes account of time spent by staff of the Scottish Executive on dealing with questions and a proportion of overhead costs, including accommodation. It does not take account of time spent on questions by Ministers and staff in their offices.