I read with interest your Opinion column about whether there should be discounts on the PC fee for part-time workers and your request for readers' views (see [2010] Gazette, 29 April, 10).

While it is correct for the Solicitors Regulation Authority to point out that there has never been a discount for part-time workers, with respect that is not quite the full picture. There was a discount (50% if my recollection serves me right) for solicitors whose gross fee income in the previous practising year did not exceed £20,000 a year. In effect, this covered many part-timers (particularly those working in-house and in smaller practices) who were therefore eligible for a 50% discount on their standard PC fee. Under the new regime, I believe this discount is being completely removed so that everyone will pay the same standard fee regardless of income levels.

We employ over 60 solicitors at our company and each year I have responsibility for completing and submitting the PC bulk renewal form. On average, we have about six solicitors who are able to take advantage of the above 50% discount and this is because they are all part-time workers – and they are all women. In effect, that discount covers our solicitors who work one or two days a week. We have one solicitor who works one day a week and a small number who work two days per week.

I doubt very much that one standard PC fee for everyone is going to deter us from recruiting part-time workers in future, but I imagine this could well be the effect in small high-street practices where budgets are tight. I would therefore, at the very least, welcome the reinstatement of the £20,000 income threshold.

Claire Birkinshaw, solicitor and legal information manager, Abbey Legal Protection