SLAB report shows legal aid solicitor exodus continues

The Scottish Legal Aid Board’s annual report shows the number of solicitor firms providing legal aid continues to decline, underlining why the Law Society of Scotland continues its campaigning for urgent investment and reform to restore the system.

SLAB’s annual report for 2024-25 was tabled in the Scottish Parliament earlier today, showing a 5% decline in legal aid firms. There are now just 567 firms across all types of legal aid work, criminal, civil and children’s matters.

The number of matters dealt with via legal aid also fell by 3.4% to 170,000 grants, though overall expenditure rose 12% to £169 million. The report does not include data measuring the extent of unmet demand for legal aid from people who cannot find a legal aid solicitor to take their case.

Ian Moir, the Co-Convener of the Law Society of Scotland’s Legal Aid Committee, said: “The continuing decline in solicitor firms working in legal aid underlines why the system is in crisis and why investment is urgently needed to reverse this decline.

“It is important to understand that this report does not provide any meaningful information on the most telling signs of this crisis, the people who report it’s extremely difficult if not impossible to get the help they need through legal aid.

“We are pleased to see SLAB signalling in this annual report its willingness to work with us and others in the legal sector towards progressing the change that is needed. We stand ready to work with SLAB, the Scottish Government and others, but the time for talk is over.”