Legal Services Bill [HL]

I hope that I can give the noble Lord the assurance he seeks. Clause 29 reflects the recommendations of the Joint Committee. Those are that the Bill should require regulators to separate fully their regulatory and representative functions; that the separation should require all regulatory decisions to be taken by an independent regulatory arm; that arrangements must be made to ensure that the regulatory arm has the resources it reasonably requires; and that it should be required to seek the intervention of the Legal Services Board if it feels that any action or inaction on the part of the relevant professional body is damaging to its independence or effectiveness. The Joint Committee said that it would help to ensure that the Legal Services Board acts proportionately if approved regulators separate fully and transparently their regulatory representative functions. That would mean that there would be a high level of public confidence and less reason for the LSB to intervene. I completely agree with that. In line with the model that we have adopted, we think it is appropriate for the approved regulators, following the board’s internal governance rules, to organise themselves in such way as they see fit in order to achieve that. If the board is not satisfied that the regulatory functions of an approved regulator have been separated from its representative functions, it is able to direct the approved regulator to take sufficient action to achieve that. I hope that clearly sets out the Government’s position. We do not wish to put further considerations on the face of the Bill, but I hope that answers the noble Lord’s point.