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Legal Services Bill [HL]

My Lords, this amendment seeks to grant employees of organisations that manage local authority housing stock rights of audience and the right to conduct litigation in respect of anti-social behaviour proceedings in the county court. There is a concern that those rights are to be granted without such housing officers being subject to any regulation or training requirements. They will be the only group authorised to deal with complex litigation that is not required to comply with the regulatory scheme. Where a solicitor behaves in breach of his or her obligation to the court he or she can be disciplined or even struck off. There will be no mechanism for stripping housing officers of those rights save for persuading their employer to withdraw the written authorisation. We would support in principle housing officers having rights of audience in that area, provided that they are subject to a regulatory regime with sufficient teeth to ensure that proper standards of administration are maintained. It is essential that those who conduct litigation and have rights of audience are under an obligation, for example, not to mislead the court, and that they understand their other duties to the court, such as the full disclosure of relevant documents. That is particularly important because, in many of the proceedings that housing officers will be conducting, applications will be included without notice where the opponent is not present. The proceedings for which housing officers will have these rights include proceedings seeking injunctions, where a power of arrest can be attached to the injunction. In addition, possession orders could be made evicting tenants on a without-notice basis in serious cases. We believe that the public have a right to expect those representing landlords in such cases to be properly qualified and regulated. Local authority employees may appear, though they cannot conduct litigation, in possession and other minor cases. The right to appear before the court is exercised by local authority officers under the supervision of local authority legal departments. We support in principle housing officers employed by management organisations being given the right to appear in similar routine cases, provided that the issues related to legal supervision can be resolved. This government amendment appeared without warning after Committee was concluded. There has been no consultation with either the Law Society or the Bar Council on the subject. I am unaware whether or not there has been any consultation with the judiciary. Many of the matters covered by the amendment are serious cases where eviction is a possibility and where the facts may be hotly disputed. It is therefore vital that the advocates should be professionals, with the duties to the court that that implies.