The 2024 Shared Parenting Scotland annual ‘user survey’ of clients who have received the charity’s help in the past year has revealed a dramatic increase in the number of parents representing themselves in Scottish courts because they can’t find a solicitor to represent them.
20% of those who responded to the survey who were eligible for legal aid said they had to represent themselves because they could not find a solicitor. By comparison, the same question in the 2022 user survey was 2%. A further 22% in 2024 said they were eligible for legal aid but were forced to pay as private clients because they could not find a solicitor to take on their case.
Shared Parenting Scotland National Manager, Ian Maxwell, says, “We have been publicising the catastrophic decline in legal aid capacity over several years, but these figures from our user survey are extraordinary. We see legal aid deserts in parts of Scotland. They are consistent with the impression we have increasingly at our monthly group meetings, where upwards of half the parents in the room say they have had to become party litigants. They report a spectrum of responses from sheriffs and opposing solicitors from courteous to irritated and downright hostile.”
“Our preferred solution is to find ways of taking disagreements about sharing the parenting of their children after divorce or separation out of the adversarial approach of the courts completely. We are seeing major innovations south of the border, including government vouchers to fund mediation before a court action can start. This scheme reports that upwards of half of those parents find their own solutions without needing to go on to court. It seems to save money, save court time and leaves both parents standing at the end of the process. However, while the Scottish system remains as it is, there is clearly an access to justice crisis that needs to be addressed. It can’t be right that a legal aid system is in place without lawyers to make it work.”
POSITIVE RESULTS FOR PARENTS WHO GET IN TOUCH WITH SHARED PARENTING SCOTLAND.
FATHERS AND MOTHERS WHO SOUGHT HELP FROM SHARED PARENTING SCOTLAND REPORT BETTER MENTAL HEALTH, AND MORE TIME WITH THEIR CHILDREN
Elsewhere in the 2024 user survey in response to the question: “What progress have you made since you first contacted Shared Parenting Scotland?”, 58% reported they have increased their contact time with their children, and 67% said they themselves feel less stressed and anxious.
In response to the question “Which aspects of Shared Parenting Scotland support have you found useful?” 66% found the Shared Parenting Scotland Helpline very useful or useful. A further 16% described it as “life-saving”. Forty six per cent found group meetings very useful or useful. A further 21% described them as “life-saving”.
