To ask the Scottish Executive how many (a) procurators fiscal, (b) precognition officers, (c) administrative staff and (d) policy staff have been employed in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in each year since 1999 and how they are distributed across Scotland. The functional split of staff is provided in the table: 1/4/99 1/4/00 1/4/01 1/4/02 1/4/03 1/3/04 Legal Staff (inc. trainees) 302 319.4 350.7 367.4 402.4 426.8 Administrative staff 680.4 711.5 719.8 759 853.1 882.5 Precognition Officer (PO) 83.4 85.7 91.5 103.6 103.1 113.8 Policy staff (legal & trainees) * * * 14.6 12 12 Policy staff (administrative) * * * 7.1 7.1 10.6 Permanent Staff Total 1065.8 1116.6 1162 1251.7 1377.7 1445.7 Note:*Prior to 2002 the figures for Policy staff were recorded within the cumulative total and are therefore not recorded separately The distribution of staff as at 1 March 2004 is as follows: Legal Staff Administrative Staff Precognition Officer TOTAL Grampian 29 34.8 6 69.8 Highland and Islands 16 26.3 2 44.3 Central 16 36.5 7 59.5 Tayside 29 47.5 7.4 83.9 Fife 19.2 34.6 4 57.8 Lothian and Borders 55.6 110.7 12.3 178.6 Argyll and Clyde 37.2 60.7 9.4 107.3 Ayrshire 22.2 36.4 6.3 64.9 Dumfries and Galloway 10 17.6 1 28.6 Lanarkshire 45.1 74.9 8 128 Glasgow 88 174 45.4 307.4 High Court, Edinburgh 1 2 - 3 High Court, Glasgow 3 11 2 16 VIA* - 45.7 - 45.7 Crown Office (including new Criminal Confiscation Unit and Civil Recovery Unit) 67.5 180.4 3 250.9 Totals 438.8 893.1 113.8 1445.7 Note:*VIA has staff located in Aberdeen, Airdrie, Dumfries, Dundee, Edinburgh, Glasgow, Hamilton, Inverness, Kirkcaldy, Paisley, Stirling and Kilmarnock.Figures in both tables are calculated on a full time equivalent basis and do not include staff on unpaid leave (including unpaid sick and maternity), career break, secondments out of the Department or casual staff.