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Legal Services Bill [HL]

The noble Baroness made the point about the OLC being the initial recipient of a complaint; but I would put it to her that that does not alter the fact that misconduct will be considered by the approved regulator, and all the observations that noble Lords have made about confusion and expense—not only between decisions made by the two organisations but in the minds of complainants—still stand. For all the reasons given by noble Lords, and especially in view of what I regard as—I hope that the noble Baroness will not mind my saying this—the inadequacy of her response, I continue to believethat this amendment should be made to the Bill. Obviously we will not press it tonight; but at the moment it is difficult for me to foresee circumstances in which we will not press it on Report. It is one of the central issues for us—perhaps one of the five or six central issues in the Bill. It is a case of granting a power to the Legal Services Board. It is not obliged to exercise it but it has it up its sleeve, to put the point colloquially. We consider that not to grant this power to the LSB would be to impose a system which was not only confusing and capable of generating conflict but also one which was hugely expensive and, ultimately, to the detriment of precisely the people that the noble Baroness says she is trying to protect. Nevertheless, at this juncture, I have to beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.