Scottish hacks were yesterday celebrating one of the first leaks to come out of the new Scottish Parliament. Senior Cadence US management met Scots MPs behind closed doors a week back, but unfortunately, governmental mouths remained firmly open a few days later in unguarded conversations with the gentlemen of the McPress. A story in the Glasgow Herald claimed that chip designer DeCadence had unilaterally cut employment targets by 50 per cent and called into question the US outfit's commitment to Silicon Glen. "It's complete nonsense," spluttered an outraged DeCadence spin paramedic. "We've bought and paid for a custom-built, £18 Million design centre which we're moving into next week - what more proof of commitment do you want?" The spinmeister also claimed that recruitment was running slower than the company wanted due to a World shortage of experienced chip designers. "There's a pool of really talented graduates in the area which was one of the reasons for moving to Scotland in the first place, but we need senior people too and they're hard to find," he said. In 1997 DeCadence and Scottish Enterprise jointly announced a target of 1,900 employees by 2004, but talks are now under way to revise this figure in the light of the shortage of skilled people. ®