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Legal Services Bill [HL]

Throughout the legislation there are opportunities where the board is required to consider representations. Clauses 48, 49 and 195 provide that the board must have regard to and consider representations on matters such as policy statements, the rules to be made and so on. One of the difficulties with this argument is that, if we were talking about two bodies that are exactly the same, it would look very neat to specify one body and then the other. The purpose of the legislation is to regulate the legal professions through the LSB and the front-line regulators—the legal professions. The route of representation, and the route whereby the regulators could take the board to judicial review, is therefore well established and well documented throughout the Bill. The missing bit when we put the Bill together did not concern whether the consumer dominated the debate. In the relationship between the board, the front-line regulators, the professions and their opportunities to make representations on representation and regulation, the missing bit— because of the nature of that relationship, because we have specifically stated in the Bill that their representations must be taken to account, and because they have the right as regulated bodies to claim judicial review—was that no formulation stated that the board also had to listen to consumers in the way that my noble friend Lord Borrie described—in a manner that is co-ordinated, focused and so on—while bearing in mind the breadth of work that consumer organisations traditionally undertake. This is about balancing back. Within the Bill the legal professions and the regulators are well covered. Nowhere do we say in terms that, to balance that, it is also appropriate that the board listens to consumers. It sets up a panel consisting of people with the right sort of expertise, and through the structure, it can bring in expertise—I gave the example of going through the CBI—so that commercial consumers’ interests are taken on board. The board has to listen to the panel. It cannot just put it in a corner and ignore it. That is what we sought to do. This issue is not about ignoring the practitioners; quite the contrary—it is about saying that this legislation relates to all those people who are involved one way or another in the legal profession, and we must not forget the consumer. I am very comfortable about discussing this matter before the next stage of the Bill, but I urge noble Lords to look at the way in which the Bill is structured and at all the representations. When all that is balanced against this clause, I hope that noble Lords will feel that we have ensured that consumers are represented, although I do not mean that they will dominate in a negative and unhelpful way. I absolutely agree with the noble Lord, Lord Maclennan, that this measure is not designed to be adversarial among consumers. I also absolutely agree that those involved through the regulatory functions, together with practitioners, may often be best placed to talk about what needs to happen next. I agree with that completely but, looking at the Benches that the noble Lord represents and the champions of consumer interests that many of his noble friends are recognised to be, I think he will also agree that it is right and proper to ensure that the consumer is not lost in this. That is the basis of this measure. I hope that Members of the Committee will at least reflect on that explanation and feel that it repositions the issue. I also hope that the noble Lord will feel able to withdraw the amendment, particularly as there will be an opportunity to discuss this matter further between now and the next stage.