I do not recognise the picture presented in your article entitled ‘Fears over child care lawyer shortage’ (see [2010] Gazette,15 April, 1).

In local government, we have always sought to ensure that lawyers who conduct child care cases are suitably qualified, experienced and supervised. We spent a lot of time pressing for local authority lawyers to be accredited in the same way as lawyers representing parents and children – and in 2000 achieved this goal. Since then, we have promoted the value of Children Panel membership and it now forms part of person specifications and of career grading structures.

A shortage of child care lawyers is a significant issue for both public and private sectors, and this will persist for the foreseeable future. The additional burdens imposed by government and the courts have led local authorities to employ paralegals to provide additional support. I emphasise ‘support’. It is not my experience that paralegals are responsible for, and presenting, child care cases. They will receive assistance and support themselves and should be properly supervised.

The Local Government Act 1972 enables legal work to be undertaken outside legal departments, for example, by education welfare officers and trading standards officers, provided that they are not held out to be lawyers. ‘Lawyer’ is a generic term, but someone in a child care legal post must be a lawyer with a practising certificate. Most local authority legal departments carry the Lexcel accreditation and will therefore demand such a requirement.

Consequently, I do not accept that there is a ‘rising trend’ in the use of unqualified staff to present child care cases for local authorities. It was unfortunate that your article was based upon this mistaken assumption.

Graham Cole, Chairman, Solicitors in Local Government Child Care Lawyers Group, Solicitor - Luton Borough Council