Fifteen per cent of Crown Office staff claim to have been bullied

The Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service has come under the scrutiny of Holyrood’s Justice Committee, which has already heard evidence that the service is under increasing strain.

Fiona Eadie, secretary of the FDA union’s Procurator Fiscal Society said: “The COPFS has suffered a real terms cut of 21.5 per cent in its budget. Our members are dedicated professionals working hard in difficult circumstances, but these results cannot be a surprise against a background of such cuts.

“We were pleased to see a 10 per cent rise this year in the leadership and managing change result, but there is still some way to go. Ministers must now take note of these results and match their rhetoric with more resources for COPFS.”

Fifty-six per cent of COPFS staff agreed their workload was acceptable and so too did 71 per cent of staff at the SCTS.

But a mere 37 per cent of COPFS staff said the organisation was well managed.

A spokesman for the Crown Office said: “We have a policy of zero tolerance of bullying, harassment and discrimination. Any instances which are reported to management are taken extremely seriously.

“We also take action against those in other agencies and customers who bully our staff and we encourage any member of staff who is experiencing bullying to alert us to the problem.​”