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GAZETTE
OCTOBER 1978
during the year. A final submission was duly prepared and furnished to the Government
and Law Reform Commission. This submission suggested various amendments in the
present Act to bring the law into line with present-day requirements. It is not possible in
the present report to go into the submission in detail but it is hoped that the suggested
amendments, if acted upon at some future date, will prove helpful both to the public and
profession.
6.3
From time to time members of the profession have made strong representations
to the Society about certain proposed changes in legislation. The Committee would like to
assure the profession that such representations are very welcome and helpful; and that the
Committee does all it can to promote the viewpoint of the profession as a whole and also
the individual members of the profession. The Committee, however, do ask the profession
to remember that their power or influence in relation to proposed legislation is very limited
especially on matters of Government policy (e.g. making building leases void).
6.4
The Committee would also like to acknowledge the work done by other
Committees such as the Conveyancing Committee and the Company Law Committee
who handle exclusively legislation and related work in these particular fields of law.
6.5
As Chairman, I would personally like to acknowledge the considerable work
done by all my colleagues on this Committee and to thank them for their help and
support.
FINANCE
COMMITTEE
Bruce St. John Blake
Chairman
Walter Beatty
John Carrigan
Maurice R. Curran
WDfiam A. Osborne
Peter D. M. Prentice
Thomas D. Shaw
7.1
The Society's expenditure on current account exceeded its income by £35,000
for the year to 30 April 1978.
7.2
Total expenditure amounted to £432,564, i.e. an increase of £115,605 over the
previous year. On the other hand income increased only by £80,271 to £379,382.
7.3
The expenditure for the year to 30 April 1978 includes for the first time a charge
for depreciation on buildings of £16,625 together with bank interest of £28,000. While
expenditure under all other headings increased, the foregoing two items accounted for the
deficit in the year's accounts.
7.4
Income also increased under all headings. Main increases resulted from
increasing the membership subscription and practising certificate fee.
7.5
It is unlikely that the Society will achieve a breakeven situation in the current
year. Indeed if interest on the Blackhall Place development is charged a loss of £50,000 is
estimated at current income levels.
Bruce St. John Blake
Chairman
7.6
The Blackhall Place development has been almost completed and the total cost of
same will amount to about £1 million. This figure, however, does include the initial
purchase cost. The fund-raising activity has been successful to date and funds of
£384,000 have been pledged as at 30 September 1978. As against this only half of these
pledged amounts have in fact been received in cash to date. There is a shortfall, however,
in meeting the entire cost of the Blackhall Place development estimated at £250,000 and
the Finance Committee is actively exploring the possibilities of additional revenue. It
hopes for a total commitment from each and every member of the Society in meeting this
financial challenge.
7.1
The Compensation Fund has had a satisfactory year to 30 April 1978 with a
surplus of income over expenditure of £174,668 compared to £47,529 last year. Claims
on the Compensation Fund were kept to a minimum through close monitoring of
solicitor's client accounts by the Society.
7.8
The Society's retirement scheme has been very successful and the fund has risen
to over £650,000 as at 1 September 1978. The value of each unit as at 1 September 1978
has increased in value to £185.88 as compared to £97.50 at inception. The fund has been
very successfully managed and deserves further support from all members particularly as
this is very much in their own interest having regard to the tax advantage.
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