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Contact us

How can we help you?
Visiting SLAB
Complaints
Report a suspected legal aid fraud
Report a data breach
Media enquiries

How can we help you?

I am contacting SLAB:
I want to:*
- Make a general enquiry or contact a specific team at SLAB
- Learn more about eligibility for civil legal aid
- Send information about a case I am involved in
- Request personal information about me or information about SLAB
I want to:*
- Contact a team or department at SLAB
- Submit a representation for a client
- Request technical help, feedback or register for Legal Aid Online (LAOL)
- Update firm details: eg address, contact details, solicitors
- Request marketing materials
I want to:*
- Find out about grant funding programmes
- Find out about the Scottish National Standards for Information and Advice Providers’ (SNSIAP)

Contact details for the public

If possible please email the team you are trying to contact from the list below rather than telephoning. We are able to respond more quickly to emails. Email the relevant team by clicking on the email link.

We ask you to only call if you urgently need to speak to someone. If that's the case, please call the relevant direct dial or mobile number listed (if available).

You can also email any general enquiries to general@slab.org.uk which will be passed on to the relevant department, or telephone our main switchboard on 0131 226 7061.

Contact details for the Civil Legal Assistance Office (CLAO) and the Public Defence Solicitors' Office (PDSO) are on their websites.

Information on legal aid, your eligibility for it and how to find a solicitor are in the New to Legal Aid and Current Cases sections of our website.

British Sign Language (BSL)

Users of British Sign Language can contact us using the Contact Scotland-BSL service. Please go to the British Sign Language website for more information on how to do this.

Contact details for specific team or department

First choose a department…	...and then the relevant team…	…then email	…or dial direct (only if urgent)
COLLECTION TEAM	Payments	collections@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2117
	Enquiries	collections@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2116
CHILDREN'S	All enquiries	civilaa.childrens@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2118
CRIMINAL	All enquiries	criminalapplications@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2138
PRINCIPAL SUMS		principalsums@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2110
CIVIL	Financial Information about your application	financial@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2164
	Details regarding rejection of your financial application	civilaccess@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2130
FINANCIAL ADMIN TEAM		civilaccess@slab.org.uk	As above
SWITCHBOARD		General@slab.org.uk	0131 226 7061

Find out if you may qualify financially for legal assistance.

The tests you need to meet to qualify for civil legal aid are split between:
Financial tests
- Your financial situation – can you afford your legal costs without help from us?
Use our eligibility estimators to work out if you are likely to qualify financially for legal assistance.

Contact our Financial Assessment Unit if you have questions about financial eligibility:
Email: financial@slab.org.uk
Phone (Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm): 0131 560 2164.

Merits tests
- You have 'probable cause' – is there a legal basis to take your case forward?
- It's reasonable to spend public money to support your case – is it likely to succeed?
You can learn more about these criteria on myGov.scot.

We cannot tell you whether legal aid will be granted for your case over the phone.
However we can explain whether legal aid is available in principle, let you know about the application process and the information your solicitor will need to provide.

Contact the Civil Merits Team if you have questions about the Merits Test
Email: merits@slab.org.uk
Phone (Monday to Friday, 8.30am to 5pm): 0131 240 2009.
Personal information
To carry out our work, we collect and use information about the people we deal with and the work done under legal assistance.
Most of the information is about:
- Individual people and their applications for legal aid
- The solicitors and advocates who carry out legal aid
- How the legal aid system is working – what help people are receiving and how much it costs
- How we run the legal aid system.
The General Data Protection Regulation
The General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) sets out how organisations should use and protect personal information. As part of the GDPR you have the right to ask if we process any personal information about you and receive a copy of it. GDPR refers to you as a Data Subject, and to the information we hold about you as personal data. Your request is known as a subject access request.

Please visit the Access to Information section of our website for further details.
Send information (make a representation) about a case you are involved in
You can send information (representations) about a case you are an opponent in by using the online form here.

If you need more information, please email representations@slab.org.uk.

You can also post the information to Thistle House, 91 Haymarket Terrace, Edinburgh, EH12 5HE.

Please include:
- Your name
- Address
- The Legal Aid Reference Number (LARN) of the case you are making a representation about (if known)
- Whether you give us permission to disclose them to the applicant.

Solicitors – contact a specific team or department

Please find the phone number for the team you wish to contact from the list below or email them by clicking on the email link.

If you get through to a voicemail, please leave a message with contact details and we will pick up your enquiry.

Principal Sums

Contact subject	Email	Direct Dials
Clawback, expenses in clawback cases and hardship applications	principalsums@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2110

Accounts

Accounts system issues or problems: please contact the relevant accounts aid type below.

Team	Contact subject or person	Email	Direct Dials
Accounts training	Accounts online system training or training on the preparation and submission of accounts (for solicitors and support staff)	support.accounts@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2135
Assistant manager	Eileen Grant	manager.accounts@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2135
Civil A&A/ABWOR Accounts	A&A	civilaa.accounts@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2159
Civil A&A/ABWOR Accounts	A&A Immigration	immasylum.accounts@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2159
Civil Accounts	Civil	civil.accounts@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2158
Criminal Accounts	Solemn & Summary detailed	criminal.accounts@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2153
	Summary Fixed fee or Duty Accounts	summaryfixed.accounts@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2154
	A&A and ABWOR	criminal.aa.accounts@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2154
Children’s Accounts	Children’s/AWI	children.awi.accounts@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2157
Mental health Accounts	Mental health	mentalhealth.accounts@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2157
Steven Carrie, Accounts Specialists	Counsel fees/accounts general	carriest@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2162

Collections

Contact subject	Email	Direct Dials
Payments: contributions, expenses and other payments	collections@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2117
Enquiries	collections@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2116

Legal Aid Online (LAOL)

Contact subject	Email	Direct Dial
Technical help with any Legal Aid Online issues	online@slab.org.uk	0131 240 2037
Ask a question, request a callback, give feedback or add firm administrator	laolhub@slab.org.uk or use online form

If you are experiencing any issues on LAOL please refer to the Legal Aid Online: ongoing issues and workarounds page. This shows anything we are aware of that is not working as it should and workarounds to address the issue(s).

Applications

Team	Contact subject/person	Email	Direct Dials
Criminal	Sanctions, appeals and Parole Board increases	criminalspecialists@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2137
	Summary criminal applications and transfers	criminalapplications@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2138
	Criminal A&A & ABWOR applications & increases; police station advice; Solemn criminal applications	criminalapplications@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2139
	Duty plans	criminalapplications@slab.org.uk	0131 240 1945
	Kingsley Thomas, Head of Criminal Legal Assistance	thomaski@slab.org.uk	0131 240 2085
	A&A increases: Mon to Fri, 9am-5pm Mon to Fri, 5pm – 10pm Sat & Sun, 10am – 10pm Any requests 10pm – 9am		0131 560 2139 0131 560 2180 0131 560 2180 0131 240 2696
Civil A&A	A&A verification: A&A grants & financial verification (civil only)	civil.aa.verification@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2132
Civil Increases	Increases in authorised expenditure under civil advice and assistance and ABWOR	civilaa.childrens@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2118
Civil Legal Aid	All enquiries relating to civil special urgency cover, civil legal aid applications which are “under assessment”, and any post grant work such as sanction or amendment applications	merits@slab.org.uk	0131 240 2009
	Registration of Applicants – merits	civilaccess@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2119
	Form 2 verification – means	civilaccess@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2130
	Financial assessment: Form 2 assessment	financial@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2164
Children’s Legal Assistance	All queries relating to Children’s legal assistance, including children’s A&A grants, financial verification and increases	civilaa.childrens@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2118

Assisted Persons Investigations

Contact subject	Email	Direct Dials
Enquiries regarding applicant financial circumstances	apinvestigations@slab.org.uk	0131 560 2108

Compliance Audit

Contact person	Role	Email	Direct Dial
Chris Coutts	Compliance Administrator	SolicitorInvestigations@slab.org.uk	0131 240 1946

Finance

Notify us if your firm details – address, contact details, solicitors – change

It is important that you tell us when your firm’s details change.

Reasons for contacting us could be to tell us about changes to details such as:

your address
contact details such as email or phone
solicitors working at your firm – you must notify us if someone registered with us joins or leaves the firm.

HOW TO CONTACT US:
To notify us of changes, or to discuss any queries, please email Finance@slab.org.uk

Switchboard

Contact subject	Email	Direct Dial
General enquiries	General@slab.org.uk	0131 226 7061

Submit a Representation (Solicitor)

You can submit a representation by using the online form here.

If you need more information, please email representations@slab.org.uk.
Technical help
Our Legal Aid Online helpline is here to help you use and make the most of our service. Our online support telephone line is 0131 240 2037. This line is open on Monday to Friday 9am-5pm.

If our support team are unable to take your call please email them at online@slab.org.uk with your details and they will respond as soon as possible.

If you are experiencing any issues on LAOL please refer to the Legal Aid Online: ongoing issues and workarounds page. This shows anything we are aware of that is not working as it should and workarounds to address the issue(s).

Ask a question, request call back, give feedback or add firm administrator using the below form.
Contact us and feedback
- Name:*
- Email address:*
- I am:*
  A solicitor
  
  An administrative user of Legal Aid Online
- I would like to:*
  Ask a question
  
  Request a call back
  
  Give feedback about Legal Aid Online
  
  Set up an additional firm administrator for Legal Aid Online
- Please ask your question about the Legal Aid Online system below (give as much detail as possible). If your question concerns a specific case please use the online notification system on Legal Aid Online.*
- Please upload any files/screenshots etc relevant to your question:
  Drop files here or
  
  Max. file size: 50 MB.
- Your phone number:*
- When would you like to receive a call back?*
  As soon as possible
  
  I would like to specify another time or date for the call back:
- Please let us know when you would like a call back:
- Please give details on the area/issue you would like a call back on:*
- You can give detailed feedback about Legal Aid Online using this survey.
- You may have more than one firm or branch administrator for Legal Aid Online, but we recommend you limit the number as a security measure.
  
  They will be responsible for administering the online users for your firm, including:
  
  creating and removing users for the firm
  
  ensuring all users have access to, and can learn from, the relevant online training package modules
  
  administering passwords.
  
  Please complete the details below if you would like to proceed.
- Name of additional firm/branch administrator:*
- Role in the firm:*
- Email address:*
- Solicitor practitioner number (if applicable):
- Name of firm:*
- Office/branch address additional LAOL administrator will be based at:*
- Telephone number:*
- Once we have all of the above details, we will email the new firm administrator with their login details. They will be able to access a learning pack through Legal Aid Online to help familiarise themselves with the system when they receive these. They can also view other training materials on how to submit applications and accounts, or request further training here.
- CAPTCHA
Notify us if your firm details - address, contact details, solicitors - change
It is important that you tell us when your firm's details change.

Reasons for contacting us could be to tell us about changes to details such as:
- Your address
- Contact details such as email or phone
- Solicitors working at your firm - you must notify us if someone registered with us joins or leaves the firm.
HOW TO CONTACT US: To notify us of changes, or to discuss any queries, please email finance@slab.org.uk

Update your firm's details on the Solicitor Finder
Check your firm's details on the Solicitor Finder.

To change the details about the type of legal aid cases you do – or to update your office accessibility information – please use the Update your firm's details form.

Up-to-date details will ensure clients can easily find your firm when searching by case type or location and help you attract more clients you can represent.
Marketing Materials
If you would like some legal aid window stickers sent to your office or need a high definition legal aid logo for your website, please email communications@slab.org.uk.
Scottish National Standards for Information and Advice Providers
The SNSIAP is owned by the Scottish Government, designed to help not-for-profit organisations providing housing, welfare benefits and money/debt advice in Scotland to assess and improve the quality of their advice services. Their primary purpose is to encourage organisations to adopt a culture of continuous improvement for their advice work.

Information on the Scottish National Standards, the process for accreditation and the types of accreditation is available here.

For general enquiries and Peer Review Application
Email: snsiap@slab.org.uk Telephone: 0131 240 1929

For Audit enquiries
Email: adviceaudit@slab.org.uk Telephone: 0131 240 1997

For Audit applications
Email: snsiapapplications@gov.scot
Grant funding programmes

Information on currently funded projects, further information on grant funding and advice for advisers looking for help with clients’ problems is available here.

To find out more information or if you have any questions about the grant funding programme, email grantfunding@slab.org.uk or call 0131 240 1883.

Visiting SLAB

Accessibility information about our head office and details about travelling here are also available.

Scottish Legal Aid Board

Thistle House
91 Haymarket Terrace Edinburgh Scotland EH12 5HE DX555250, Edinburgh 30

0131 226 7061 general@slab.org.uk

Scottish Legal Aid Board

Thistle House
91 Haymarket Terrace Edinburgh Scotland EH12 5HE DX555250, Edinburgh 30

0131 226 7061 general@slab.org.uk

Other reasons for contacting us:

Complaints

Find out about complaints, our complaints procedure, how to make a complaint, and how to complain about a solicitor.

Report a suspected legal aid fraud

If you suspect someone is receiving legal aid fraudulently, please use the form we have provided to give as much information as you can.

Report a data breach

Tell us if you have concerns that personal data has been subject to a data breach.

By email: databreach@slab.org.uk

By telephone: 0131 226 7061

By post:
The Scottish Legal Aid Board
Thistle House
91 Haymarket Terrace
Edinburgh
EH12 5HE

Media enquiries

Journalists with a media enquiry should contact:
- David Montgomery, Media & Communications Manager
- Lindsay Corr, Communications Officer
Phone: 0131 240 1887
Email: communications@slab.org.uk

Out-of-hours media enquiries can be made on 07887 633 738.
We also have a Twitter policy to manage our @ScotsLegalAid account.

Contact us

How can we help you?

Contact details for the public

British Sign Language (BSL)

Contact details for specific team or department

Find out if you may qualify financially for legal assistance.

Financial tests

Merits tests

Personal information

Most of the information is about:

The General Data Protection Regulation

Send information (make a representation) about a case you are involved in

Solicitors – contact a specific team or department

Contact subject

Email

Direct Dials

Accounts system issues or problems: please contact the relevant accounts aid type below.

Team

Contact subject or person

Email

Direct Dials

Contact subject

Email

Direct Dials

Contact subject

Email

Direct Dial

Team

Contact subject/person

Email

Direct Dials

Contact subject

Email

Direct Dials

Contact person

Role

Email

Direct Dial

Notify us if your firm details – address, contact details, solicitors – change

Contact subject

Email

Direct Dial

Submit a Representation (Solicitor)

Technical help

Ask a question, request call back, give feedback or add firm administrator using the below form.

Contact us and feedback

Notify us if your firm details - address, contact details, solicitors - change

Update your firm's details on the Solicitor Finder

Marketing Materials

Scottish National Standards for Information and Advice Providers

Grant funding programmes

Visiting SLAB

Scottish Legal Aid Board

Scottish Legal Aid Board

Other reasons for contacting us:

Complaints

Report a suspected legal aid fraud

Report a data breach

Media enquiries