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NHS Redress Bill [HL]

Amendment No. 48 would remove the explicit power for the scheme to provide for those providing legal advice in connection with the scheme to be on a list of solicitors held by a specified person. As drafted, Clause 8(2) enables the scheme to provide that free legal advice has to be supplied by a provider included in a list held by a particular body. It is envisaged that the scheme may provide that the list of solicitors who will provide legal advice under the NHS redress scheme will be those firms who are authorised by the Legal Services Commission, the LSC, to undertake publicly funded work. Clause 8(2) therefore seeks to guarantee that the legal advice offered under the scheme is of a suitable and high standard—and ““standard”” is the key word here. The LSC is a non-departmental public body. Solicitors authorised by the LSC are independent and are subject to the normal professional obligations of all solicitors. In a publicly funded scheme, it is appropriate that solicitors funded to provide services to patients meet a guaranteed appropriate standard. Amendment No. 49 would have the effect of stating on the face of the Bill that the list of solicitors be held by the Law Society. I believe that it is appropriate that flexibility is retained to determine who will hold the list in secondary legislation. We will naturally be consulting stakeholders in drafting that legislation. However, as I have mentioned, it is currently intended that secondary legislation will provide for the list to be held by the Legal Services Commission. We are of the view that the LSC is best placed to hold the list of solicitors who will provide legal advice under the NHS redress scheme.