As the final days ebb away before the start of the new criminal contracts on 14 January, the harsh realities of this new system start to hit home.


Anyone living next door to their police station could well benefit from the new fee structure, but for those of us with the temerity to live up to a 40-minute drive away, the scheme is not quite as financially rosy.



More of the new fixed fees are swallowed up by travel time for out-of-hours cases at police stations. At those stations I regularly attend, it means once I have been in attendance for more than 90 minutes I will be working for nothing. Anyone with even a passing knowledge of these matters will realise how often that will occur.



What a wonderful system, designed to encourage solicitors to work during unsocial hours in often inhospitable surroundings. Oh, and do not forget that next Christmas, when you are on the rota, unless you are called out during Christmas lunch, you will be paid nothing for the privilege, as standby payments have been abolished. This from the 'fully joined-up' Legal Services Commission, which could not decide whether or not the new fees included VAT. I cannot wait.



Chris Bunting, Clark Willis, Darlington