In Law Society v LSC et al [2010] EWHC 2550 (Admin) the court acknowledged that solicitors working in the Family Court were ‘a band of skilled and dedicated lawyers working for little reward’.

Your edition of 12 January records the entry into administration of Jewels, a firm foremost in the provision of services in this area. The sole director blames this melancholy event on late payments by the LSC. I am sure he is right.

Our experience as a firm dealing nationally with complex care proceedings is proving exactly similar. Conversations with other legal aid lawyers reveal that many have not received payments from the LSC for months. The situation is intolerable.

It must be obvious to all but the most naive that some secret direction has been issued by the government to the LSC to reduce by any means possible the sums to be paid to the dedicated and hardworking (not to say long-suffering) practitioners who try their hardest to deliver legal services in one of the most difficult, challenging and important areas of law.

The devices adopted by the LSC have included reductions in amounts once allowed; rejections of major claims for the most miniscule of reasons; and disallowance of items that their declared policy says are allowable. Many would describe such tactics as sharp practice.

This unheralded change in policy has led to a reduction in our LSC income approaching 30%. It compounds the pre-existing scandal of lamentable rates of remuneration and the creaking administration of payments. If it continues, more excellent firms will fail, leaving a vulnerable section of our community without the expertise they desperately need to deal with the visceral issues connected with the potential loss of their children.

Is this what is meant by sharing public funds to achieve greater fairness in society?

William Bache, William Bache & Co, Salisbury