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Legal Services Bill [HL]

I hope that the noble Lord, Lord Whitty, will have seen Amendment No. 139E after Clause 155, where we propose that the current Legal Services Ombudsman should be renamed, "““the Independent Reviewer of Legal Services Complaints””," which is exactly what he asks for in Amendment No. 137ZZZA. Just as I support him in his amendments, I hope that he will support me in mine. We believe that an internal review, which is thrown around all the time, is a very unsatisfactory way of resolving disputes. It will mean going back to the same people asking them to say that they have made an error, which is always very difficult to do. At the same time, the independent reviewer whom we seek is a person who will save the expensive judicial review, fulfil the role currently carried out by the Legal Services Ombudsman and will be entirely in accord with the amendments tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Whitty. I notice that our amendment is supported by Which?, an organisation with which I believe the noble Lord has a connection.