NHS Redress Bill [HL]

The noble Baroness has put her finger on a very important set of issues. The thing that worries me about this clause is what it will cost. Part of the rationale of the Government scheme is to reduce costs by cutting out legal involvement. The scheme is intended to provide an alternative to the legal process. However, the trouble with lawyers is that they tend not only to add to the cost of a case but also to increase its complexity and thereby cause delay. I love lawyers very dearly, but I am afraid that is what they happen to do. They do not always necessarily add value, I am sorry to say. What we surely cannot have, but may well be faced with, is the scheme being swamped by lawyers and fanciful legal arguments. We need to get closer to how much legal involvement the Government envisage. Is it only, as the noble Baroness asked earlier, at the end of the process when an offer emerges, or will there be provision for legal assistance from the outset, which is where the danger may lie. If that happened, we would be back to the delays and costs associated with the current system of civil litigation. I am not against the need for an applicant to receive competent legal advice about the fairness of an offer made under the scheme and, if necessary, legal representation at that point if there appears to be a case for negotiating the offer upwards. There may also be a need for an expert medical opinion to be supplied to the provider trust and the scheme authority. As the earlier Liberal Democrat amendment indicated, that comes under the broad umbrella of legal advice as well. However, there is a point about that which has not come out and I should be grateful if the Minister can give me an answer. If there is seen to be a case for independent expert medical opinion to be supplied to the trust and the scheme authority, who will take the decision on the budgetary aspect and say whether the money is to be spent? Is the decision to rest with the scheme authority as to whether or not to fund such expert opinion, and will the basis of the decision be made available to the applicant? I have a couple of other detailed questions which relate to payments to solicitors. Is it envisaged that payments to solicitors will be on a fixed fee basis? Can the Minister say what eligibility criteria will apply for the receipt of free legal advice, or will applicants be entitled to free advice, regardless of means?