Specifically, in the short-term, the Scottish Government must:
Proceed with reforms to increase fees paid to legal practitioners;
Find more opportunities for traineeships to increase capacity;
Consider proposals to reduce administrative burdens and bureaucracy, thereby improving relations between SLAB and legal practitioners and creating an environment in which trauma informed approaches can thrive;
Broaden those eligible for civil legal assistance by increasing Advice and Assistance thresholds to match Civil Legal Assistance thresholds;
Moreover, all levels in advice and assistance and civil legal assistance should be increase in line with inflation since 2011;
Pursue reforms removing financial eligibility tests for civil protection orders and homelessness due to a breach of statutory duty cases:
Investigate options for ensuring legal aid is available without means-testing to a wider selection of domestic abuse cases;
Re-visit...