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Legal Services Bill [Lords]

I am not generalising at all. There are some extremely good local firms of solicitors that deal competently with the work with which they can deal and take on work that others might not because of their loyalty to a community and its residents. Such solicitors will often and perfectly reasonably send off work that they are not competent to carry out to a colleague or another firm. There may be firms—I am sure there are—that seek to do work that they are not competent to do. What I know is this: if small firms are faced with competition from a catch-all company that does everything—insuring clients from the cradle to the grave and providing legal services for everything, allegedly—that underprices and takes the business, the result will be that some of those firms are no longer viable. When those smaller firms have gone, if the big international provider decides not to have an outlet in that village, town or city, there is nothing to take its place. That is the danger of the predatory market and it is the reason why, in a capitalist society, checks and balances are always necessary. That is why, in this debate, the big issue is what the correct balances are. Yes, we need a more customer-oriented, consumer-oriented service; but, no, we do not need an untrammelled free market that suddenly says that everybody can come, irrespective of tradition, practice, competence and so on. Let us proceed carefully—the amendments made in the Lords allow us to do that. They do not prevent alternative business structures; instead, they say that we should proceed carefully and in a way that protects the best and protects access to justice. That is the test. This is a justice Bill and the outcome should be judged by whether it gives best access to justice and legal services in the smallest villages and the biggest cities in our land.