Staff may be cut as part of a restructuring of the Attorney General’s chambers, the Chief Minister has confirmed.
Allan Bell was quizzed in the House of Keys over the changes being made to the prosecutions team.
Replying to a question from John Houghton (Douglas North), Mr Bell said the restructuring was driven by a number of factors including work underway with the new criminal justice strategy, changes in caseload and the types of cases likely to be referred for prosecution and the need to minimise spending on external legal support.
He said the acting Attorney General John Quinn had assured him the restructuring would allow the team to work more flexibly and deal with more serious crime, while ensuring resources are ‘appropriately skilled and used more efficiently’. Mr Bell told MHKs: ‘Tne intention is that the restructuring may ultimately result in an overall reduction of staff but at this stage it cannot be confirmed.’
Mr Houghton asked why three staff had left if there was going to be recruitment.
Mr Bell replied the changes flowed from the Wooler report which reviewed what ‘has been a problematic AG’s department’: ‘There has been a decrease of three. There are still two vacancies and this is part of restructuring.’