Reform vital for Scotland’s legal aid system despite record annual spend

Our Annual Report and Accounts for the financial year ending 31 March 2025 reveals record legal aid spending of £169 million.

This is a 12% increase from the previous year, the highest ever in cash terms and the highest since 2016-17 in real terms.

Yet despite the 170,000 grants of legal assistance made in the year, the current legal aid system cannot guarantee access to a solicitor for everyone who needs one. The legislation does not require a solicitor registered for legal aid to provide a service.

Chief Executive Colin Lancaster said the report underscores legal aid’s vital role in supporting access to justice but also highlights systemic limitations.

“While our analysis doesn’t point to a national crisis, there are clear areas of concern that need to be addressed,” he said. “The current system doesn’t let us secure services where and when they are needed or easily connect people to those services.

“A system created in the 1950s cannot solve problems it wasn’t designed for, or do so in the accessible, customer-focused ways we rightly expect of modern public services.”

The report highlights achievements, financial performance and contributions to Scotland’s justice system over the past year – and challenges faced in delivering legal aid services.

Mr Lancaster welcomed the Equality, Human Rights and Civil Justice Committee’s recommendations following its inquiry into civil legal aid and reiterated SLAB’s commitment to playing its part in delivering a reformed system.

He said he was looking forward to working with the Law Society of Scotland’s new chief executive Ben Kemp towards the shared goal of a more responsive, equitable, and sustainable legal aid system.

“We’ve made progress – proposing changes to simplify civil financial assessments, improving customer service, and supporting the Scottish Government’s reform agenda.

“I want to thank our staff for their dedication and hard work, which has been instrumental in achieving these outcomes. But meaningful change requires legislative action.”

The Board’s Chair Bill Moyes is calling for a unified approach to reforming Scotland’s legal aid system: “In my first year as Chair, I’ve been struck by the range and amount of help that legal aid delivers, but also how it needs to adapt to meet new challenges.

“Our Board has emphasised to the Minister that reform is essential, and we are encouraged by her recognition of this and commitment to act. Reform is a complex issue and there needs to be a collaborative approach between us, Scottish Government, the Law Society of Scotland and service providers.”

Key highlights from the 2024-25 report include:

• Record expenditure: £169 million spent on legal aid, up 12% from 2023–24
• Grants of assistance: 170,000 grants made. Children’s legal aid rose 1%; civil and criminal grants fell by 4% and 3% respectively
• Payments to legal professionals: £126 million paid to solicitors and solicitor advocates (up 11%); £16 million to advocates (up 8%). Criminal legal assistance rose 15% to £81 million
• Operational performance: Applications performance against 14 KPIs improved to 96%; accounts performance against 19 KPIs rose to 85%
• Legal Aid Reform contribution: SLAB’s advice informed the Scottish Government’s February 2025 legal aid discussion paper
• Legal Aid Reform engagement: Continued collaboration with stakeholders to shape effective legal aid reform
• Sustainability: Carbon emissions cut by 44% from 2015–16 baseline.

Challenges faced in 2024-25 include:

• Civil supply gaps: Difficulties reported in accessing solicitors for family law and housing cases
• Economic pressures: Rising costs required careful financial management and the risk for future years remains
• Cybersecurity: Ongoing investment in training and system upgrades to counter rising threats.

​The full Annual Report and Accounts for 2024-25 is available on the Annual Report and Accounts page of our website. There are also earnings tables for the profession and key statistics.

For further information, please contact:

Communications Email: communications@slab.org.uk  Phone: 07887 633738