Criminal Defence Service Bill [HL]

I am sorry to interrupt the noble Lord again, but we are describing an average cost of some £500. I do not believe that there would be many circumstances in which someone who was setting up their own business and had taken up a loan would be forced into bankruptcy for a £500   cost in a magistrates’ court. But if that person faced the expensive end of the magistrates’ court, I have already indicated that the scheme would allow for a more forensic examination of the individual’s circumstances. It might be there that we could clarify additional matters, because more money might be involved and there could be an impact. I accept that there might be a different set of arguments for the Crown Court, compared with the magistrates’ court. But if we are talking about that level of finance, a simple scheme—and we discussed at Second Reading not reintroducing the previous scheme for many good reasons—that states the precise incomes and outgoings and the type of allowances that we have described, you would be able to find £500 for your costs, given that that would put a great deal of money back into the system for the more effective use of legal aid. The more that the noble Lord speaks, the more I think that we have got it right.