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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 Ayrshire Area structure is based on the Crown Office grading structure. Staff know who their line manager is and in the event of changes to structure the Area Business Manager will issue a new list of line managers.

All senior staff have attended the mandatory Leadership Development Programme.

The Ayrshire Area holds Area Management Meetings once a month. Minutes from these meetings are put on the intranet for all staff to read and the following are examples of issues discussed:

• Reports from District Offices
• Report from Deaths Unit
• Accommodation
• Budget/Business planning
• Staffing
• Data Quality
• Training
• Vulnerable Witnesses Act
• Communications
• Meetings with criminal justice partners

The Area Fiscal and Area Business Manager also hold 'All Staff' meetings at each office twice a year where performance and other issues such as reorganisation and disclosure etc are discussed.

Team briefings are held every month within the distinct areas of work and the Ayr office has management meetings every two weeks while the Kilmarnock office has management meetings every week. In addition to this Office Managers circulate information to staff when appropriate.

Staff interviewed also indicated that information on the intranet is very helpful.

In 2007 Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service conducted a staff survey. 74% of staff across the country took part and 51 members of staff took part in the Ayrshire Area.

The strong points highlighted in the Ayrshire results are that three quarters of staff understand how their work contributes to the objectives of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service, most feel they have the skills and knowledge to do their jobs, over 80% feel their team cooperates to get work done. However, only 22% indicated that they receive clear explanations about major decisions compared with a national score of 33%.

82% of staff from Ayrshire indicated that they intend still to be working in the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service in 12 months' time. This compares favourably with the national score of 68%.

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

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 review previous and expected workloads to identify staffing requirements. A copy of the Area's Skills Audit which was fed into the 2007/08 Staffing Plan was provided. It detailed different areas of work split between legal, precognition, management and administration work and the different skills that each member of staff has.

Workload staffing forecast tables are also used to aid this process. Agreed unit values per category of cases processed are totalled and divided by the number of different types of staff to show expected output per type of staff.

The 2007/08 workload forecast showed that there was a higher level of units produced by staff in the Area than in the national benchmark:

As a result of Area restructuring an Area Deaths Unit and Area High Court Unit were set up. Both are currently based in Kilmarnock, however, the Area Deaths Unit will be relocated to Ayr in the near future. There is also an Area Initial Case Processing Unit managed by a Principal Depute in Kilmarnock but with staff based in both offices. Sheriff and Jury Units and Summary Units have been set up in both offices.

We were informed that there have been considerable staffing constraints with sick leave and introduction of new procedures such as Disclosure etc and we were informed that recently only one member of staff was available for some time to deal with precognitions in the Ayr office.

The Area is currently carrying a vacancy at Area Fiscal level with the District Fiscal from Ayr acting as interim Area Fiscal and the Principal Depute from Ayr Sheriff and Jury Unit covering the majority of Ayr District Fiscal duties.

In addition the Area has carried two Depute vacancies and we have been informed that experience of Deputes in the Area is limited particularly in the Ayr office with a reliance on ad hoc Deputes who have been employed for a total of 199 days during period 1 April to 31 December 2007. The Area has also been employing two ad hoc precognition officers (two former police officers) to help out.

The Kilmarnock office currently employs five agency staff at Band B grade. This appears to be a lot for a medium sized office and in using agency staff there is time lost learning on the job every time a new person starts which also impacts on other staff who have to take time out to teach them.

The Area encourages the offices to help each other out, for example if overtime is approved it might be that both offices will do work for one office. We have also been advised that during period 1 June to 31 December 2007 the Area's total overtime hours worked amounted to 619.1 hours.

The Area Team have made attempts to secure additional permanent resources eg Band C Manager for the High Court Unit and a Depute to assist with the increase in solemn work and will continue to pursue this through the business planning process.

It is acknowledged by the Area that targets are 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.

Most eligible staff in the Area work flexible hours and are encouraged to take time due and also to take annual leave. We were informed that some staff are working long hours and some are losing excess flexible working hours over and above those that can be carried forward in order to meet demands of changes such as Disclosure, Vulnerable Witness Act and Summary Justice Reform and to cover for sick leave as there is no resilience within the current structure. The Area was unable to provide details of such hours that staff have lost. Statistics relating to hours worked and sickness reports are discussed at management meetings.

Staff were asked if there was adequate resources to allow them to perform their duties. With reference to accommodation we were advised that the Kilmarnock office is a bit cramped. The public counter has already been moved to allow for four extra desks but with the increase in High Court work more space is taken up. The Area Business Manager advised that a room which is currently empty will be used as an Area resource room with two desks for staff to use if there is a need. The Kilmarnock office use off-site storage for closed cases. The Ayr office opened at its new location in October 2006. The 2007 staff survey showed that only 32% of respondents from Ayrshire felt that the physical environment allows them to e productive in their job compared with a national score of 47%.

With regard to IT both offices indicated that there is plenty of equipment but we have been informed that the system is very slow and staff have even been sent to Glasgow to mark cases as the work gets done quicker even when taking into account the travel time. Information Systems Division is aware of this problem and is looking into the issue. We have been informed that staff are feeling disillusioned in using this system.

The Area follows the Crown Office 'Attendance Management Scheme'. Line Managers perform back to work interviews and Office Managers collate form E9s and forward them to Crown Office Human Resources. The Area Business Manager will only be involved if there is a concern. If Managers are aware of specific issues relating to an individual they will liaise with Human Resources to ensure that the most appropriate method of dealing with the situation is applied.

There is a system of performance appraisal which provides 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. Staff have been advised that this system will no longer be used for this purpose. The 2007 staff survey results showed that only 27% of respondents from Ayrshire indicated that they receive regular feedback compared with a national score of 43%. This could possibly be partly due to the problems caused in the use of the Learning Academy.

The Area observes Departmental policies relating to recruitment of Band B posts. Adverts are placed in local papers, job centre and with various ethnic minority groups.

The 2007 staff survey also showed that 83% of line managers feel they have the skills and abilities to manage their team although only a third of respondents say they have confidence in their senior managers and only 35% say that they are motivated or inspired by their manager and 26% saying that senior management in their work area are visible.

Further to this the highlighted weaker points for Ayrshire are that only 16% feel appropriately rewarded and only 38% feel valued although both these scores are indicative of the feelings across the whole of the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service.

Only 24% of respondents feel there are opportunities to progress in their career compared with 32% nationally and just a quarter feel that things have changed since the last survey which is almost the same as the national score of 26%.

Almost half of respondents from Ayrshire feel that their work/life balance is right with 18% indicating that stress has a negative impact on their work the latter being better than the national score of 28%. We were informed that there is a perception within the Area that they are under resourced.

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

A diagram showing the staffing structure in the Ayrshire Area can be found in Chapter 1.

Training:

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

The Area Business Manager has overall responsibility for identifying training needs and this is part of the business planning process. He performs a skills assessment which is fed into the training plan. A copy of the Area's Training and Development Plan for 2007/08 was provided. It detailed type of training, who should attend, whether it is local or central training and target dates.

The District PAs currently co-ordinate training and the Area PA currently coordinates mandatory courses such as Disclosure. If the Area is successful in the future in securing an additional Band C member of staff part of the duties will be as 'Area Training Coordinator'.

The Area has a training committee and its members include the Area Fiscal, Area Business Manager and various grades as and when required and it meets on an ad hoc basis. The Area holds a training day for all staff in the Area once a year and each office has its own training day.

There currently is no specific Area Induction Pack but the Area uses the Departmental induction pack and have found it to be very useful.

Key training areas identified in the Ayrshire Business Plan for 2007/08 are:

• FOS2
• Summary Justice Reform
• Vulnerable Witness Act
• Disclosure

The Area is actively involved in training and agree to staff being part of various events such as diversity training, advocacy training and local training to police, schools etc. Senior staff also participate in various Departmental working groups.

Staff are provided with, as far as possible, opportunities to work in different areas of work. For example, Deputes shadow Principal Deputes, High Court Fiscal Officers get the opportunity to see High Court cases actually being conducted in court, Fiscal Officers can sit in with Precognition Officers, etc. The Area would like to offer more of these opportunities to staff, however, operational demands don't always permit this. The Area also has a system of staff rotation which allows Deputes to rotate through various units to gain experience. Mandatory courses are always attended by staff and the offices try their best to provide sufficient cover.

Training is discussed with staff during performance appraisal and staff are encouraged to look at the training calendar on the Intranet for courses that they might like to attend although all the training at present is geared towards Summary Justice Reform.

Once a year the Ayr office has a half day training event with the Sheriff Court. They have found this to be useful.

All staff interviewed indicated that locating the Scottish Prosecution College in Glasgow is good for them in that they do not have to travel to Edinburgh for courses.

The 2007 staff survey showed that 49% of respondents from Ayrshire felt that the learning opportunities available provided them with the skills and knowledge to do their job and 35% felt that Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service was committed to training and development of staff. Both scores are similar to the national scores of 53% and 39% respectfully ( 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 Ayrshire 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 is responsible for creating the financial budget as part of the business planning process. Financial needs are identified by looking at current staffing, current and expected workloads, trends, new initiatives, etc. The budget consists of staffing costs, office related costs and case related costs. The draft business plan including the financial plan is shared with staff and feedback is taken into consideration, for example staff will let management know if there is likely to be any unusual spend for example a witness travelling from a far distance which will incur high costs. The proposed budget and business plan is passed to the Area Fiscal for approval before being forwarded to Crown Office.

The Area Business Manager is also responsible for monitoring expenditure on a monthly basis. He receives monthly financial reports from Finance Division and checks actual expenditure against planned expenditure. This information is 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 allows him to drill down into each transaction if required. He looks for any unexpected costs and will make enquiries where necessary, for example, as a result of expenditure being less than expected it was discovered that the Ayrshire Area had not been paying their part of the toxicology contract. This was rectified and the sum due was paid in November 2007.

Detailed pay reports are also supplied and this allows the Area Business Manager to keep track of staff costs. Spreadsheets are maintained by the Area Business Manager which contains financial information over specific periods of time and this helps him monitor costs and which can be utilised when preparing the next budget plan.

The Area has indicated that it manages to operate within the financial resources provided and that a reserve (from underspend on salaries) allows employment of casuals and ad hoc legal and precognition staff. They would, however, like further financial resources to fund full time staff.

The High Court Manager, who also covers the Solemn Unit in Ayr, and the Office Manager in Kilmarnock have responsibility for the Government Procurement Card. They are each required to provide the Area Business Manager with a log of costs backed up with invoices. The Area Business Manager then approves the log and passes it on the Crown Office Finance Division for payment.

Office Managers in both offices approve invoices up to £500 in Ayr and £1,000 in Kilmarnock which is within the Crown Office delegated limits for Band C and Band D respectfully. Any invoices over this limit as passed to the Area Business Manager for approval. We were advised that finances are discussed at Area Management Meetings.

It is expected that the new Scottish Prosecution College which is based in Glasgow will have an impact on travel and subsistence costs. The Area, however, incurs travel and time costs as a result of covering District Courts in Cumnock, Girvan and Irvine that fall under different Sheriffdoms.

It is our opinion that the Area keeps good control over finances.

Risk Management:

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

The Area Business Manager is responsible for creating and maintaining a risk register for the Area. This is approved by the Area Fiscal and is updated as and when is necessary taking account of new initiatives and processes. Identification of risks is part of the Business Planning Process. The Area Business manager formally reviews risks on a quarterly basis although risks are assessed on a day to day basis where necessary changes will be made immediately but the risk register will be updated during the formal review.

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 are addressed and the register details controls that should allow key planned activities to be met.

The main risk identified by the Area is staffing resources. With the reported inexperience, vacancies and absences due to long term sick and maternity leave etc along with the continuing increase of more serious and complex cases and the additional workload as a result of Disclosure the Area has to ensure that there is adequate cover.

It is to the Area's credit that targets have continued to be met under these constraints.

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.

The Area Business Manager advised that change management in the Area consists of planning, consultation and implementation including training requirements. All staff are involved in the process of planning and their ideas and concerns are taken on board.

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

• Disclosure
• FOS2
• Vulnerable Witness Act
• Area Restructuring - the Ayrshire Area had a reorganisation of structure over the last few years including the creation of Area High Court Unit and Area Deaths Unit. The aim was to develop an area identity with closer co-operation between the District Offices and a willingness to share workload and staff to assist in achieving Departmental targets.
• New telephone system

We were advised that there have been problems with some of the recent changes. For example FOS2 is slow to respond and the Area has been finding it more efficient to send Deputes to Glasgow to mark cases even when taking into account the travel time. Others, for example, Disclosure has had a huge impact on workload and extra staff have been employed to help with this as the Area has found it difficult to meet targets with the current ratio of staff along with absence.

A major change for 2008/09 will be the modification in processes as a result of the Summary Justice Reform and it is expected that this will impact on the Area while it settles down.

The Area also participates in process reviews. Examples include:

• Area Deaths Unit
• Depute Instructions
• Summary Mail
• Countermands
• Implementation of FOS2

A member of staff is given responsibility for a process review and they, in consultation with staff, will identify if changes are necessary and will make appropriate recommendations to management. Results of process reviews have recently been put on the Area's page on the Intranet for all staff to see.

The 2007 staff survey showed that only 22% of respondents felt they were given clear explanations behind the reasons for major decisions compared with a national score of 33%. Management interviewed did, however, inform us that staff are kept aware of what is happening and the benefits that are hoped for in the event of change, for example, with regard to the Area restructuring we are advised that 'all staff' meetings were held in both offices where proposals were presented and staff were given a two week period to make further comment. There was then a further round of 'all staff' meetings where amended proposals were presented to staff.

Complaints Handling:

There are Area guidelines available to staff on complaints handling. This document details how staff should deal with complaints, how complaints should be recorded and it has a link to the Crown Office guidance on the day to day workflow of complaints handling.

The Area uses the RESPOND system to record complaints and the District PAs are the nominated officers who co-ordinate them. 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 PAs who will acknowledge within 3 days. Complaints are then passed to the District Fiscal to deal with and every effort is made to resolve them within the Crown Office 21 day target.

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