Following representations from the Law Society, the LSC has agreed to extend the time within which an own client request will be converted to a duty request from 30 minutes to 2 hours.  It has also agreed that requests for assistance from relatives in police custody can be accepted by the adviser direct with the proviso that such requests are to be logged with the DSCC as soon as possible (to ensure that more than one adviser is not allocated) and before any advice is provided.