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Compensation Bill [Lords]

Quite frankly, I will leave the last part of the hon. Gentleman’s comments for my hon. Friends to dismiss appropriately. The exemption will apply to independent trade unions on the certification officer’s list. If the hon. Gentleman thinks that such trade unions are not already subject to a form of regulation, he misunderstands some of the legislation that the previous, Conservative Government put in place. Trade unions that are not classified as independent will need to seek authorisation, as will those that provide regulated claims management services to non-members. The Secretary of State will be able to attach conditions to an exemption. We will draw up a code of practice with the trade union movement that will provide a benchmark by which trade unions’ provision of claims management services can be judged. The Secretary of State, as the regulator, will take into account evidence of any breach of that code when considering whether to remove the exemption of trade unions.