Sheriff asks why contact isn’t legally aided

Sheriff Richard Davidson has ordered the Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) to send a senior official to a hearing in Dundee later this month to explain why it refused a funding application for a father’s supervised visits to his son.

This order was made after additional civil legal aid to cover the cost of the supervised contact sessions – sanctioned by the sheriff – had been turned down by SLAB.  This means a further delay in setting up contact between a father and his son.

SLAB seems to be refusing far more initial applications for legal aid, even if, as in this case, they are subsequently approved following provision of additional information.

Most Child Contact Centre clients rely heavily on legal aid to cover the costs of Supervised Contact service provision.  If the client cannot afford to pay for this service out-of-pocket, they rely on legal aid to help them out.

Relationships Scotland indicate that a reported 356 supervised contact cases took place last year in Scotland, although they do not have a record of how many cases did not take place due to not receiving legal aid.

Families Need Fathers Scotland agrees that delays in resuming contact with children are to be minimised, but would also suggest that a Sheriff should consider carefully before ordering contact to be supervised.

While we accept that supervised contact can be necessary, sometimes contact centres are stipulated by court in situations where it would be better for children to see their father without such restrictions. 

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