David Taylor raised the important issue of the appointment of a senior partner from a major City firm to the Carter review of legal aid procurement (see [2005] Gazette, 6 October, 15).


Unless he is operating at the sharp end, he will be unable even to understand the issues he is to address. His firm operates on the basis of pure market forces, whereas in the high street we are dogged with hopelessly inadequate legal aid remuneration. And John Prescott's plans to introduce home information packs, in the mistaken belief that the delays in the conveyancing process are because of solicitors, rather than the human element, over which there is no control.



The marketing that is currently being prepared, with heavy finance behind it, will divert a massive volume of business to what we now call conveyancing factories, with which individual practices will be unable to compete until the public realises that perhaps it is not what they want or need.



The combined effect of this is that high street practices are under severe threat and, to a large extent, are unlikely to survive - leaving a dearth of access to the law in the provinces. This will then have to be addressed by the government from scratch.

Neither the Law Society nor the Gazette seem to regard this as an issue, and are giving no encouragement or assistance - when it is clearly the most important issue of the day on the high street.



David Campion, Humfrys & Symonds, Hereford