The threat to local advice

If conveyancing is the backbone of small high street practices, the success of Countrywide Property Lawyers shows weakening in the spine

The demise of Middlesbrough Law Centre is a sad occasion.

The local authority's decision to withdraw funding sends a message far beyond the centre's relatively small catchment area.A key plank of the government's highly touted Community Legal Service is the voluntary advice sector.

One brick in that edifice has been removed; the Law Centres Federation forecasts that Middlesbrough's plight is not singular and other bricks might soon crumble away.That portends bad times for the local provision of social welfare legal advice.

And there was more grim news for high street solicitors this week, as Countrywide Property Lawyers reported a 41% increase in its conveyancing business in the past 12 months, with most of that work moving away from small firms and sole practitioners.If conveyancing is the backbone of small high street practices, this shows further weakening in the spine.

As we report this week, many small practices are throwing in the towel and merging with larger firms (see page 22).The one bright spot on the high street is the Britannia Building Society's decision to reinstate sole practitioners on its conveyancing panel.

If solos are to survive, they must remove the perception that they pose a higher risk of fraud and negligence.