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Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [HL]

As I said at Second Reading, I support the view that legal aid should be available under certain circumstances. This amendment tries—I do not know whether in law it succeeds—to encompass that particular point. I find it very difficult to accept the view that legal aid should be somehow hedged, somehow not available, or available under circumscribed circumstances. After all, for the individual, the matter before the tribunal is of the utmost importance and it should not be lightly discarded. I am not saying—nor does the amendment—that legal aid should automatically apply. Nobody is arguing that point. The judge of the first-tier tribunal should be able to express the view that the tribunal would be helped by the provision of legal aid. I find it very difficult to accept the view that in a very small minority of cases legal aid would be available. As I say, it should be for the chairman of the first-tier tribunal to express a view. This view is extremely important. Legal aid can be of enormous help to a tribunal when it comes to arguing a point of law. That help would certainly not be available without an experienced lawyer. It is incumbent on my noble friend to express a view today, which I hope complies with what I have said. If not, I hope that she will be able to express a view that I am wrong. All in all, the issue is of vital importance. That is why I have stood up to express forcefully this point of view. I will certainly return to the point on Report.