From 1 June 2026, children involved in Scotland’s Children’s Hearings will no longer face financial or merits tests to secure a solicitor. The Legal Aid and Advice and Assistance (Miscellaneous Amendment) (Scotland) Regulations 2026 (SSI 2026/117) were signed on 19 February and set out the changes in law.

The rules also allow one approval of assistance by way of representation to carry a child through the early rush of hearings until a decision is made on a compulsory supervision order. That trims repeat applications and cuts delay in urgent child protection cases when time is tight for families and social workers.

Money is tidied up too. The initial spending cap for representation in children’s matters rises to £550, while advice and assistance linked to those cases remains at £135. The general ABWOR limit outside children’s cases also moves up, from £500 to £550, reflecting the routine work solicitors have to do at short notice.

Crucially, the regulations set a clear line: for these hearings, a child now means anyone under 18. This sits alongside Parliament’s 2024 Children (Care and Justice) legislation extending access to the Hearings System to under‑18s. (scra.gov.uk)

Ministers have also shielded the new Care Leaver Payment from counting against legal aid. The £2,000 payment, to be delivered by local councils to young people moving on from care, will be ignored when officials assess disposable income or capital for advice, civil legal aid or children’s legal assistance. (gov.scot)

For readers on our side of the Border, the impact is practical. If your child lives in Scotland or a cross‑border situation lands in the Children’s Hearings System, they will be guaranteed representation without a means test, and that representation can follow them through the initial stages without fresh forms each time.

Scottish Government officials argue the shift will strip out needless administration for solicitors and the Scottish Legal Aid Board, and give children certainty about who will stand up for them at short notice. Their 2025 discussion paper trailed the same approach: extend a single grant of representation across early hearings, raise the initial spend to £550 and remove eligibility tests for all children. (gov.scot)

Two timing points matter. Although the instrument begins on Monday 1 June 2026, the higher limits and automatic access apply where advice, assistance or representation is first made available on or after that date. Existing grants continue under the rules that applied when they were given.

Access, though, still relies on enough duty and panel solicitors being available. The Law Society of Scotland has warned through 2025 that fee levels and recruitment remain pinch points even as reforms land, and has pressed Ministers for wider uplifts to keep firms in the system. (lawscot.org.uk)

For families, the takeaway is straightforward. If you receive a Children’s Hearing notice in Scotland after 1 June 2026, ask for a solicitor; you should not be asked to prove your means or the merits of your case. If you are a care leaver receiving the new £2,000 payment, it will not count against your entitlement to legal help. And if your situation moves quickly from one hearing to the next, one approval should now carry you through.

The changes were authorised for Ministers by Siobhian Brown, the Minister for Victims and Community Safety-the portfolio responsible for legal aid. It’s a technical instrument with clear social intent: simpler routes to a lawyer for children when decisions cannot wait. (gov.scot)