The Gazette 1978

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. 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. 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. 7.6 7.1 The Society's expenditure on current account exceeded its income by £35,000 for the year to 30 April 1978. 7.2

FINANCE COMMITTEE

Bruce St. John Blake

Chairman

Walter Beatty John Carrigan

Maurice R. Curran WDfiam A. Osborne Peter D. M. Prentice Thomas D. Shaw

Bruce St. John Blake Chairman

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