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Written question asked by Barry Gardiner (Labour) on Monday, 1 March 2010, in the House of Commons. It was due for an answer on Wednesday, 3 March 2010. It was answered by Vera Baird (Labour) on Thursday, 18 March 2010 on behalf of the Solicitor General.

Departmental Disciplinary Proceedings

Question
To ask the Solicitor-General how many (a) disciplinary and (b) capability procedures have been (i) initiated and (ii) completed in the Law Officers' Departments in each of the last five years; how much time on average was taken to complete each type of procedure in each such year; how many and what proportion of staff of the Law Officers' Department were subject to each type of procedure in each such year; and how many and what proportion of each type of procedure resulted in the dismissal of the member of staff.
Answer

No member of HM Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate, National Fraud Authority or the Attorney-General's Office has been subject to formal discipline in the past five years.In respect of the Serious Fraud Office and Treasury Solicitors there have been fewer than five dismissals in any single year during this period, and this information is therefore suppressed on the grounds of confidentiality.The Crown Prosecution Service (CPS) and Revenue and Customs Prosecution Service (RCPO) have not maintained records in relation to average time taken to complete each procedure. Records are only available from 2007.Table 1 shows (a) the number of formal disciplinary actions (i) initiated and (ii) completed in each of the relevant years, the proportion of staff subject to the procedures, and the number of resulting dismissals on disciplinary grounds. Table 2 shows the number of (b) formal capability procedures (i) initiated and (ii) completed in each of the relevant years, the proportion of staff subject to the procedures, and the number of resulting dismissals on disciplinary grounds.

Table 1: Disciplinary cases—CPS and RCPO combined
Number and percentage of formal disciplinary actions initiated within the CPS and RCPO Number and percentage of formal disciplinary actions completed within the CPS and RCPO How many and what proportions of procedure resulted in dismissal within the CPS and RCPO
Number Percentage staff Number Percentage staff Number Percentage
2007 56 0.6 56 0.6 5 8.92
2008 56 0.63 56 0.63 4 7.14
2009 38 0.41 36 0.39 5 13.16
Table 2: Capability cases—CPS and RCPO combined¹
Number and percentage of formal capability (performance) actions initiated within the CPS and RCPO Number and percentage of formal capability (performance) actions completed within the CPS and RCPO How many and what proportions of procedure resulted in dismissal within the CPS and RCPO
Number Percentage staff Number Percentage staff Number Percentage
2008 12 0.13 10 0.11 2 18.2
2009 11 0.12 11 0.12 2 18.18
¹ In 2007 there were fewer than five cases so information has not been provided so as to protect staff confidentiality.

Secondary information

Type
Written question
Reference
507 c1016-8W; 320627
Session
2009-10
Subjects
Disciplinary proceedings Solicitor General
Contains statistics
Yes
Link
View this Written question on www.publications.parliament.uk