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Legal Services Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 37: 37: Clause 8, page 4, line 23, leave out paragraph (a) and insert— ““(a) appointed by the Board following public advertisement and selection by the prevailing standards for selection of members of public bodies and appointed on terms and conditions determined by the Board, and”” The noble Lord said: The amendment refers to the Consumer Panel, which is dealt with in Clauses 8 to 11. In stark contrast to the detailed consideration given to the Consumer Panel, it is notable that there is no reference in the Bill to a practitioner panel; that is a matter to which later amendments will come. On the Consumer Panel, however, the amendment has a limited objective, which relates to the appointment procedure for the panel’s chairman and members. The Bill allows the Legal Services Board to determine the terms and conditions of appointment. The amendment ensures that there will be public advertisement for any positions and that the prevailing standards for selection should be those applying to the selection of members of any public board. The Bill might currently give the impression that the Consumer Panel is simply a creature of the board; there has already been criticism that the Bill leans too heavily in the direction of the consumer interest at the expense of the public interest. It is important that that impression is not reinforced by how the board is seen to select members of the panel. In a sense, the amendment is partly about perception: it is intended to ensure that there is no perception that the Consumer Panel will simply do the board’s bidding. Perhaps the Minister could enlighten us as to the terms and conditions of appointment for the panel. I beg to move.