SUSPECTS will have new rights to consult a solicitor from the end of this month - but some lawyers are refusing to hang by the phone to provide the service.

In a major shake up of criminal justice in Scotland, anyone brought in for police questioning will have the right to legal advice when they are arrested at any hour of the day.

But the Faculty of Solicitors of Dunbartonshire has significant concerns about the potential workload increase and the lack of proper funding to make theirs a potentially 24/7 service.

In December, the faculty and others throughout Scotland gave notice they would not be available for duty calls from police offices if a person’s specific lawyer can’t be reached.

The Scottish Government and Scottish Legal Aid Board (SLAB) insist lawyers in Scotland are getting enough financial backing.

Scott Adair, secretary of the faculty, said it was not a simple question of money but of how they maintain their own work-life balance, particularly with families, and ensure they are delivering the best possible representation for clients.

And he questioned how well they could do their jobs if they are expected at police stations in the middle of the night and then court hours later.

From January 25, Part 1 of the Criminal Justice (Scotland) Act 2016 comes into force so even someone on a £50 means warrant will be arrested and have the right to a solicitor.

Mr Adair said: “The main concern is the number of times we may get requested to attend police offices for matters for which we previously would not have had to.

“There’s a work-life balance. We will be on call 24/7, 365 days a year.

“You make a professional decision on every case but if you’re not at your best, because you’re out in the middle of the night ... a lot of smaller criminal practices don’t have the ability to employ someone to do that.

“For my own clients, I’m there 24/7 and I have taken calls on holiday and I speak to clients because they’re the ones looking for me and that’s part of the job.

“There are people who are vulnerable and in need of professional assistance and the government doesn’t appear to be willing to fund that properly.”

Mr Adair said the estimate is three to five times more calls per week for the duty solicitors. But SLAB said it would be just one or two per week for the Dunbartonshire faculty.

SLAB said regulations passed by the Scottish Parliament increased the money available for legal aid for police station cover from £500,000 to an estimated £3.2 million across Scotland.

A spokesman for SLAB said: “We understand the concerns some solicitors have about managing requests for advice in police stations alongside the other demands of running their businesses.

“Our projections are that demands should be manageable for most firms with the support of the services provided by the Solicitor Contact Line and the support of the duty scheme for police station attendances.

“The volume of calls solicitors can expect from their own clients will depend on the size of their current client base. There is no obligation on solicitors to respond to requests for such advice.

“Our discussions with the profession have suggested that some will choose to do so, while others will do so some of the time and rely on the SCL or the duty solicitor at other times.”

A Scottish Government spokeswoman said: “It is essential that no individual is denied access to their rights to legal advice and that right will be delivered by employed solicitors who currently provide the service and private solicitors that opt to remain on the duty scheme.”