When will restoration happen? (Back to top)
We are restoring external access to Crime Applications from Monday 15th September 2025
This will involve LAA restoring the platforms you are familiar with (Crime Apply and Submit a Crime Form (also known as NSCC)), but through our new Sign in to Legal Aid Services (SiLAS) platform – this is the replacement to Portal that you will have used previously.
What will I need to do to access Crime Apply and Submit a Crime Form (NSCC)? (Back to top)
Users for Contracted Providers will receive an activation email from the email address laa.account.activation@notifications.service.gov.uk with the title ‘Sign in to legal aid services – activate your account’. Please follow the instructions within the email to complete the activation. You will then be able to sign into SiLAS and should see the options to access Crime Apply and Submit a Crime Form. Activation links will expire after 30 days – if you require a new activation email after this time, please contact the Customer Service Team.
Contracted Providers have identified their Administrators and standard users when submitting organograms for us to create SILAS accounts.
These Provider Administrators will first need to grant each user in their organisation with the correct permissions, in order for any users to access the correct systems and permission groups. You can find guidance on how to do this here: SiLAS Learning and Guidance – Legal Aid Learning
Administrators will only be able to see users that have completed the activation process. If you cannot see an expected user listed in the system in order to grant them access, please check with your users that they have received and actioned their activation email prior to contacting the LAA.
Users who are involved in civil-related services under a provider that holds both Crime and Civil contracts will have the opportunity to activate their SiLAS account prior to the restoration of Civil Application (CCMS and Civil Apply). However, once they have activated their SiLAS account and completed the log in process, they will not be able to access Civil applications until we commence their restoration and will not see these applications when they log in – this is not an error, please do not contact our Customer Support Team for this matter.
If after 48 hours you have not received your activation email as expected please check your Spam or Junk mailbox first, then contact your Contract Manager who can help investigate
What will be different about Crime Apply and Submit a Crime Form (NSCC)? (Back to top)
These platforms will look and feel as they did prior to the outage. The processes to submit, update and complete applications will be the same as prior to the outage for both providers and LAA staff.
We know that the security and stability of our systems is important to you. To support security measures over the initial restoration of services, platforms will have temporary restricted operating hours.
The restricted operating hours for Crime applications will be initially between 0700-1900 on weekdays only
This is to ensure that there is appropriate digital support available to monitor platforms as part of our security measures. This is hoped to be a temporary measure, and we will review the hours of operation after the first week of systems being available.
Following the restoration of the crime systems, we may need to have some additional periods of planned downtime to ensure ongoing performance of the systems. We will provide notice of these and seek to keep these to a minimum, to avoid interference with the recovery of normal service.
Will there be any change for Claim for Crown Court Defence (CCCD)? (Back to top)
Please note CCCD is already live and currently doesn’t require SiLAS to login. In the future this may be integrated with SiLAS, but we will consult with representative bodies on when and how this is done, and further guidance will be provided.
When will the current contingency measures end and how long do I have to prepare for this transition? (Back to top)
Information on Business Continuity Measures will continue to be hosted on the GOV.uk website here: Legal Aid Agency cyber security incident – GOV.UK
As Business Continuity Measures are stood down, this will be highlighted via email and on the GOV.uk website, with notice given prior to the change. We will continue to provide updates to you via the weekly provider email and any urgent updates will be sent as individual communications.
The following changes to submission processes will apply after the restoration of Crime Apply and/or Submit a Crime Form:
Delegated functions during transition
For the remainder of September, in order to effectively manage the return to normal operations, we ask that providers continue self-granting Representation on Summary only, Either Way and Prescribed Proceedings cases in the Magistrates’ Court or the Youth Court, where the defendant is on a passported benefit, unemployed or is a Youth.
Crime Apply
For Criminal Legal Aid applications, we will continue to allow submissions via the email contingency route for two weeks following system restoration. This is to help with the transition from manual to digital processes for both providers and LAA staff
The last date for Criminal Legal Aid email submissions will be Tuesday 30th September by 19:00
After two weeks we will only accept new submissions via Crime Apply. Please note that applications submitted via email will not be uploaded onto Crime Apply, therefore any Post Submission Evidence applications will still need to be submitted via email.
Please note that any rejected applications that remain outstanding at the end of this two-week period will need to be submitted via Crime Apply. Please include all of the information and evidence in your submission and a note with regards to the date the client first instructed you. We will then process this application in line with the below date stamp rules.
Non-Standard Crime Claims
For Non-Standard Crime Claims (CRM 4 – application for prior authority to incur disbursements in criminal cases and CRM 5 – application for extension of upper limit) we will be returning to digital submissions only once Submit a Crime Form is restored. Please do not submit any CRM4s by email from Monday 15th September 2025.
This means that once you have regained access to Submit a Crime Form you should please begin using it as the method of submission for CRM 4 and 5.
If you currently have outstanding contingency forms to submit, please do so before the system goes live where possible. Once the system is live we will work through backlogs in date order, please do not resubmit anything previously sent by email via Submit a Crime Form.
Please note that the CRM 7 – “non-standard fee contract work assessment process” will revert back to the standard process whereby claims can be made either by the digital system or by sending the claim via the post.
Date Stamping
In order to support the clear understanding of how cases will be date stamped during this period, the following guidance will apply:
- For any application where the solicitor was instructed prior to the date of restoration of Crime Apply (before 15th September 2025), we will follow the contingency date stamping arrangements – solicitors will need to clearly indicate on the application the date that you were first instructed, we will then back date the representation order to the date provided.
- For any case where they are instructed on or after the date of restoration of Crime Apply (15th September 2025), we will revert to the original date stamping arrangements – Please refer to the Criminal Legal Aid Manual – Section 3.3 Dating the Representation Order for guidance on this.
- For any applications where the solicitor was instructed when the service is not available, the solicitor must submit the application on the next available business day and clearly note the application in the further information section with the request to backdate the date stamp. The following examples explain this for weekday evenings and weekends:
Example 1: Weekday Evening Submissions
If you would have submitted the application on Monday evening during the hours of 19:00 – 23:59 to secure a date stamp for that day, we will allow this application to be submitted on the next business day which is Tuesday.
Example 2: Weekend Submissions
If you would have submitted your application on Friday evening after 19:00 or throughout the weekend, please ensure this is submitted on the next available business day which is Monday and clearly note the application in the further information section with the request to backdate the date stamp to either Friday, Saturday or Sunday, as required.
Please note if a request is made to backdate by more than one business day without a satisfactory reason then this will be declined.
Where can I find guidance on accessing and using Crime Apply and Submit a Crime Form (NSCC)? (Back to top)
For guidance on initial access to SiLAS, a user guide can be found here: SiLAS Learning and Guidance – Legal Aid Learning
For guidance on how to use Crime Apply and Submit a Crime Form including how to submit and update an application, there is no change. You can continue to find the guidance on our learning platform: Criminal Legal Aid – Legal Aid Learning
What do I do if I have a technical issue with accessing or using Crime Apply or Submit a Crime Form (NSCC)? (Back to top)
If you encounter a technical issue with logging into SiLAS please refer to the troubleshooting guidance which can be found here: SiLAS Learning and Guidance – Legal Aid Learning
If you encounter a technical issue with accessing or using Crime Apply or Submit a Crime Form, please contact the Customer Service Team in the first instance. You can do this via the existing online service support portal or the support telephone number.
Customer services – 0300 200 2020 (Option 1 for support regarding SiLAS)
Who can I contact for questions on submitting applications after the platforms are available again? (Back to top)
For questions relating to the policy and requirements for submitting applications, please refer to the existing guidance which can be found here: Criminal Legal Aid – Legal Aid Learning
Questions relating to individual submissions should be directed to our customer service team in the first instance. For individual passported, employed or unemployed applicants, any of the following email inboxes will be able to support your query:
Please only contact one of the above email addresses to avoid duplication – they are all able to help.
For queries regarding applicants who are self-employed, directors, non-means tested and hardship applications the following email should be used:
For queries regarding Submit a Crime Form the following email should be used: