‘Significant’ increase in legal aid fees vowed by minister

The Scottish Government will provide a “significant” increase in fees for lawyers’ legal aid work, a minister has said.

Community Safety Minister Ash Regan said further improvements would be made on top of a 5% increase in fees which was confirmed on Tuesday.

Lawyers have repeatedly raised concern that Government funding is inadequate.

The dispute led to solicitors in Scotland’s three principal bar associations – in Glasgow, Edinburgh and Aberdeen – staging boycotts in a bid to force the Scottish Government to invest more money in legal aid.

Ms Regan appeared at Holyrood’s Criminal Justice Committee on Wednesday.

In correspondence with the committee, she said the Government had delivered a 10% uplift in fees over a two-year period.

Discussions on further improvements are ongoing, she said, and the Government is due to bring forward a Bill on legal aid.

The minister said: “In the shorter term, we are progressing proposals for reform in both solemn and summary criminal legal assistance.

“These proposals provide significant additional fees for criminal solemn and summary work.”

Committee convener Russell Findlay said the Law Society felt the current changes would not affect a system which was at “breaking point”.

Ms Regan said: “I feel in general the Scottish Government considers the profession to be a partner.

“In access to justice, in running the courts system, and obviously because of the pandemic – addressing the backlog we have in the criminal courts.

“This is an attempt by the Government to demonstrate how much we value the profession by continuing to uplift the fees.”