Quarterly legal aid statistics

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Fee payments to firms

Fee payments to firms consist of solicitor and solicitor-advocate fees and they include VAT.

Latest quarter: Q4 2025-26 (January-March)

Bar chart showing quarter three payments to firms, covering October to December 2025 in civil, criminal and children's legal assistance, and comparing to the previous annual quarter three payments, covering October to December 2024.
Table showing fees payments to firms by aid type for the fourth quarter of 2025-26, covering January to March 2026, comparing the same period for the previous year. Payments to firms: Civil quarter 4 is £10 million for 2024-25 and £10.3 million for 2025-26, which is a 3% decrease. Criminal quarter 4 is £19 million for 2024-25 and £18 million for 2025-26, which is a 4% decrease. Children’s quarter 4 is £1 million for 2024-25 and £1.2 million for 2025-26, which is a 15% increase. Total for quarter 4 is £30 million for 2024-25 and £29 million for 2025-26, which is a 1% decrease overall.

Grants of legal aid

Latest quarter: Q4 2025-26 (January-March)

Bar chart showing and comparing quarter four legal aid grants (January to March) for 2024-25 and 2025-26 in civil, criminal and children's legal assistance.
Table showing the number of legal aid grants by aid type for the fourth quarter of 2025-26, covering January to March 2026, comparing the same period for the previous year. Civil legal aid grants for 2024-25 totalled 14,284 and for 2025-26 totalled 14,283, which is zero percent decrease. Criminal legal aid grants for 2024-25 totalled 22,596 and for 2025-26 totalled 24,151, which is a 7% increase. Children’s legal aid grants for 2024-25 totalled 2,015 and for 2025-26 totalled 2,121, which is a 5% decrease. The total legal aid grants for 2024-25 totalled 38,895 and for 2025-26 totalled 40,555, which is a 4% decrease overall.

Active solicitors

The number of active solicitors is based on a 12-month rolling count.

Latest count: Active solicitors in the 12 months to March 2026

Bar chart showing and comparing active solicitors from January to March 2026 in civil, criminal, and children’s legal assistance.
Table showing active solicitors: For civil, there were 984 active in March 2025 and 968 active in March 2026 which is a 2% decrease. For criminal, there were 742 active in March 2025 and 720 active in March 2026 which is a 3% decrease. For children’s, there were 345 active in March 2025 and 321 active in March 2026 which is a 7% decrease.

Previous quarters

Previous quarterly legal aid statistics

Previous data published quarterly on the operation of legal aid in Scotland