I read about Lord Bach’s apparent apparent support for compulsory pro bono.

I am a family legal aid lawyer with 18 years’ experience. Legal aid work is subsidised by the private work that family lawyers undertake, thus one might argue that a huge amount of pro bono work is already being done. And it is being done by a sector that is already demoralised by poor rates of pay and lack of recognition.

How any legal aid lawyer could suggest to their employer that they start doing free work is beyond me.

Your Obiter item of last week about public sector pay rates does not tell the whole story. If the government says we are an arm of the welfare state it should pay us in a manner comparable to other public sector-equivalent employees. It is not just about pay; other public sector workers have much better pensions, holiday entitlement, employment rights and so on.

I would like to know what a GP with 18 years’ experience and two panel memberships is paid – and more to the point if that GP works for free to prop up the NHS.

Legal aid lawyers have no trade union to fight for them and do not elicit public sympathy like a nurse or a firefighter. We do not act in a cohesive manner and so successive governments have exploited this to their advantage. Therefore we are in a downward spiral – demoralised lawyers chasing their tails, doing far too much paperwork to keep the Legal Services Commission happy.

We do valuable work supporting many vulnerable families and children. It is nothing short of a disgrace that our society has reached the stage where it needs legal aid lawyers to work for free.

Sara Schofield, Waddington Webber, Keighley