Legal Services Bill [HL]

I am grateful to the Minister and to all noble Lords who have spoken in this debate. My objective is for the Bill to be clear about the objectives and functions of each one of the three regulators. In my view, the Bill as drafted is not sufficiently clear. It is undesirable, particularly in a self-financing regulatory regime, for there to be imprecision in this area. It may well be that my proposal is not the optimal solution, but the situation as it stands is wholly unsatisfactory. There may be another way of achieving what I am seeking to achieve. The Minister suggested Clause 48 and we may be able to look at other clauses. However, I also accept that there is the duty on me to go away and look at the objectives not only of the Legal Services Board but of the Office for Legal Complaints and the authorised regulators, and try to come up with a set of objectives that accurately reflect what I think should be the responsibilities of these three regulators. The Minister has been kind enough to say that her mind remains open on these issues, and we shall have time between now and Report to make some progress.