Publication - FOI/EIR release

Justice budget information: FOI release

Published: 19 March 2025
Directorate: Safer Communities Directorate
Topic: Law and order, Public sector
FOI reference: FOI/202500451976
Date received: 10 February 2025
Date responded: 6 March 2025

Information request and response under the Freedom of Information (Scotland) Act 2002.

Information requested

1. Total money in the 2023 and the 2024 budget allocated to Justice, please provide details of what money was allocated to Justice

2. Total money allocated to Legal Aid in the year 2023 and 2024

3. Breakdown of money allocated to criminal legal service and civil legal services and any other breakdown that is relevant to money allocated for both 2023 and 2024

4. A copy of the decision on how the 2023 Legal Aid budget was decided and allocated and by whom

5. A copy of the decision on how the 2024 Legal Aid budget was decided and allocated and by whom

6. Please provide a copy off any documentation of discussions/meetings on the Legal Aid requirements that were used to assist the decision on the budget for legal aid, please include the names of all ministers and third parties involved in the conversations and give detail on any consultations that took place and with whom prior to the allocation of the legal aid fund. (Evidence how you reached the decisions on the legal aid allocation of funding) or confirm no consultations took place and it was soley a decision made by a Scottish minister and state who that was

7. Please provide the total budged allocated to the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service in 2023 and 2024 budgets and a breakdown of how this was spent by the service. Please provide any additional top ups or assistance provided from the budget for the service

11. Please break this allocation down per civil law and criminal law services and what is being allocated to both and state any other break down of expenditure that may be of use to show what the funds are to be spent on and allocated for

12. Confirm the exact amount being allocated to Legal Aid for this year, 2025, from the 48.7bn budget

13. Please provide a copy of the decision made on allocation of Legal aid budgets for this coming budget and year 2025 and how this decision was reached and by who

14. Please provide a copy off any documentation of discussions/meetings on the Legal Aid requirements for 2025 that took place to assist with the allocation of funds for the legal aid fund for 2025 and who was consulted. (Evidence how you reached the decisions on the legal aid allocation of funding) or confirm no consultations took place and that the decision on allocation was by a Scottish Minister only and confirm what minister this was.

15. Please provide the total budged allocated to the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service in 2025 and a breakdown of how this is to be spent by the service.

Response

I am responding to 12 of your 17 questions:

1. You asked for total money in the 2023 and the 2024 budget allocated to Justice and to provide details of what money was allocated to Justice.

All of the information you have requested is available from the websites linked below. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

For details on the budget allocated to the Justice Portfolio in the year 2023-24 and 2024-25 please see links to the Scottish Budget document, Autumn Budget Revision and Spring Budget Revision.

Scottish Budget: 2023 to 2024 - gov.scot
Autumn Budget Revision 2023 to 2024: supporting document - gov.scot
Scottish Budget 2023 to 2024: spring budget revision - gov.scot
Scottish Budget: 2024 to 2025 - gov.scot
Autumn Budget Revision 2024-25: supporting document - gov.scot
Spring Budget Revision 2024-25: supporting document - gov.scot

2. You asked for the total money allocated to Legal Aid in the year 2023 and 2024.

For details on the budget allocated to Legal Aid in the year 2023-24 and 2024-25 please see links to the Scottish Budget document, Autumn Budget Revision and Spring Budget Revision.

3. You asked for a breakdown of money allocated to criminal legal service and civil legal services and any other breakdown that is relevant to money allocated for both 2023 and 2024.

Some of the information you have requested is available from the websites linked below. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the websites listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

2022-23
SLAB-2022-23-Annual-Report-and-Accounts.pdf pages 25 and 26

2023-24
Annual Report and Accounts 2023-24 pages 20 and 21

2024-25
Report on the 2024-25 proposed budget for SLAB Administration costs and also the non-judiciary parts of the Legal Aid Fund like Client Legal Services and Quality Assurance can be found at: 4.-Report-on-2024-25-Proposed-Budgets.docx

For 2024-25 the Scottish Government does not hold information on the breakdown of money allocated to criminal legal service and civil legal service. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

However, you may wish to contact the Scottish Legal Aid Board at foi@slab.org.uk

4. You have asked for a copy of the decision on how the 2023 Legal Aid budget was decided and allocated and by whom.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because exemptions under sections s.29 (1)(a) formulation or development of Scottish Government policy and s.30(b)(ii) free and frank exchange of views for the purpose of deliberation of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions applies are explained below in the Annex A to this letter.

5. You have asked for a copy of the decision on how the 2024 Legal Aid budget was decided and allocated and by whom.

6. You asked for a copy of any documentation of discussions/meetings on the Legal Aid requirements that were used to assist the decision on the budget for legal aid, please include the names of all ministers and third parties involved in the conversations and give detail on any consultations that took place and with whom prior to the allocation of the legal aid fund. (Evidence how you reached the decisions on the legal aid allocation of funding) or confirm no consultations took place and it was solely a decision made by a Scottish minister and state who that was.

7. You asked for the total budget allocated to the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service in 2023 and 2024 budgets and a breakdown of how this was spent by the service and to provide any additional top ups or assistance provided from the budget for the service.

For details on the budget allocated to the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service in the year 2023-24 and 2024-25 please see links to the Scottish Budget document, Autumn Budget Revision and Spring Budget Revision.

For details of the 2023-24 expenditure please see a link to the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service Annual Report and Financial Statements.

Annual Report 2023-24 | COPFS

The Scottish Government does not hold all have the information you have requested regarding how the budget was spent for 2024-25 as that information will be held by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

However, you may wish to contact the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service at:
Email: FOI@copfs.gov.uk
Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service
Information Governance Unit
Policy Division
25 Chambers Street
Edinburgh
EH1 1LA

11. You asked for a breakdown of this allocation per civil law and criminal law services and what is being allocated to both and to state any other break down of expenditure that may be of use to show what the funds are to be spent on and allocated for.

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for because as this information is held by the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

12. You asked for confirmation of the exact amount being allocated to Legal Aid for this year, 2025, from the £48.7bn budget.

All of the information you have requested is available from the website linked below. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

For details on the budget allocated to Legal Aid in the year 2025-26 please see the below link to the Scottish Budget: 2025-26.

Supporting documents - Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026 - gov.scot

13. You asked for a copy of the decision made on allocation of Legal aid budgets for this coming budget and year 2025 and how this decision was reached and by whom.

14. You asked for a copy of any documentation of discussions/meetings on the Legal Aid requirements for 2025 that took place to assist with the allocation of funds for the legal aid fund for 2025 and who was consulted. (Evidence how you reached the decisions on the legal aid allocation of funding) or confirm no consultations took place and that the decision on allocation was by a Scottish Minister only and confirm what minister this was.

While our aim is to provide information whenever possible, in this instance we are unable to provide the information you have requested because exemptions under sections s.29 (1)(a) formulation or development of Scottish Government policy and s.30(b)(ii) free and frank provision of views for the purpose of deliberation of FOISA applies to that information. The reasons why these exemptions applies are explained Annex A to this letter.

15. You asked for the total budget allocated to the Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service in 2025 and a breakdown of how this is to be spent by the service.

Some of the information you have requested is available from the website linked below. Under section 25(1) of FOISA, we do not have to give you information which is already reasonably accessible to you. If, however, you do not have internet access to obtain this information from the website listed, then please contact me again and I will send you a paper copy.

For details on the budget allocated to Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service in the year 2025-26 please see the below link to the Scottish Budget: 2025-26.

Chapter 13 Crown Office & Procurator Fiscal Service Scottish Budget: 2025-26

Supporting documents - Scottish Budget 2025 to 2026 - gov.scot

The Scottish Government does not have the information you have asked for in relation to a breakdown of how the Crown Office and Procurator Fiscal Service budget will be spent in 2025. This is a formal notice under section 17(1) of FOISA that the Scottish Government does not have the information you have requested.

About FOI

The Scottish Government is committed to publishing all information released in response to Freedom of Information requests. View all FOI responses at https://www.gov.scot/foi-responses.

FOI 202500451976 - Information released - Annex A

File type: PDF
File size: 86.7 kB

Contact

Please quote the FOI reference
Central Correspondence Unit
Email: contactus@gov.scot
Phone: 0300 244 4000

The Scottish Government
St Andrew's House
Regent Road
Edinburgh
EH1 3DG

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