https://www.slab.org.uk/guidance/telephone-grants-of-advice-and-assistance/
https://www.slab.org.uk/guidance/telephone-grants-of-advice-and-assistance/
You can grant advice and assistance (including a diagnostic interview) over the telephone. However, you must still satisfy yourself that your client is eligible.
If you are not meeting your client in person then you must explain the terms of the declaration to them and obtain their verbal consent to its terms. You may then select the ‘client not present and agrees with the declaration terms’ option within Legal Aid Online.
You must also ensure that you submit the online advice and assistance application within 14 days of beginning to give advice and assistance.
Advice and Assistance application procedures
This page includes information on how to apply for non-templated increases in expenditure under civil A&A. It covers the information you should provide us with; case-related factors to address in your application; the process for reconsideration of refused increases; the process for urgently needed increases; whether authority for retrospective increases is available; and other guidance you may wish to consider.