How many (a) providers of criminal legal aid and (b) Public Defence Solicitors' Offices there were in each year from September 2012 to Sept…

The Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) has provided data for the number of ‘active’ practitioners and firms. This includes criminal practitioners and firms in each year that submitted at least one application for criminal legal assistance (Advice and Assistance, Legal Aid or Advice by way of Representation (ABWOR)). SLAB has been able to provide relevant data from October 2014. Data older than this is destroyed as per its records disposal procedures which are in line with good records management.
Criminal Practitioners Practising
Period
Number
Oct14-Sep15
1107
Oct15-Sep16
1083
Oct16-Sep17
1043
Oct17-Sep18
1007
Oct18-Sep19
944
Oct19-Sep20
883
Oct20-Sep21
834

Criminal Firms Practising
Period
Number
Oct14-Sep15
512
Oct15-Sep16
494
Oct16-Sep17
474
Oct17-Sep18
458
Oct18-Sep19
440
Oct19-Sep20
404
Oct20-Sep21
378
The reductions in criminal practitioners and criminal firms should be viewed in the context of demand for criminal legal assistance. Since 2013 the number of criminal case reports to COPFS has reduced from 293,671 in that year to 129,477 (plus 7956 death reports) in 2019/20, a reduction of nearly 56%. These are pre-pandemic numbers. Between October 2014 and September 2021 there has been a 19% reduction in applications for criminal legal assistance.
There are 7 Public Defence Solicitors Offices in Scotland in the same time period.