The Legal Aid and Advice and Assistance (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2026
These Regulations amend regulations made under the Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 1986. They remove financial eligibility and merits assessments for any child accessing assistance by way of representation (“ABWOR”) in relation to proceedings under the Children’s Hearings (Scotland) Act 2011 (“the 2011 Act”), provide that such assistance may cover a range of matters by way of a single application and raise the initial expenditure limit so that more work may be done on such cases before the approval of the Scottish Legal Aid Board (“SLAB”) is required. They also amend regulations so that care experience assistance paid by virtue of regulations made under section 93A(1) of the Social Security (Scotland) Act 2018 (“a care leaver payment”) is to be disregarded by SLAB in the assessment and computation of that person’s disposable capital and income.