Those, who write to the Charity Commission to make comments, or express concerns about the running of a particular charity will receive a reply that ends with the following standard wording: 'I regret that, for financial and practical reasons, the commission cannot preserve all correspondence indefinitely and this correspondence will be destroyed after three months if you have not been in contact.'

I do not know whether a policy of this kind is adopted by any other government institution, but it seems to me, particularly in the case of the Charity Commission, a surprising one.

There are situations in which the commission has a duty to intervene in the affairs of a charity and the existence of these situations may well be established, not by a single representation, but by an accumulation of representations.

It seems strange that the commission should be systematically destroying what might otherwise be a growing volume of evidence calling for its intervention.

RT Oerton, Bridgwater, Somerset