Congratulations to local government lawyers for securing from the Solicitors Regulation Authority a rule change allowing them to charge local charities for legal services. Self-evidently, this is a commercial income-generating arrangement, not a philanthropic endeavour.

In the spirit of a level playing field, presumably lawyers engaged in this work will now be happy to pay for practising certificates and contribute a fair share of the regulatory costs imposed on their private sector counterparts?

Mark Johnson, managing director, TPP Law, London SE1