Legal Services Bill [HL]

I am of course extremely grateful to the noble Baroness for her response, but surprised to hear her approach to the interpretation of Clause 1. As I understand it, the Government have not sought to differentiate in weight between any of the considerations set out in Clause 1(1); they all have equal weight. That is the Government’s position, and there is nothing in Clause 1 to indicate that any differentiation applies. If that is so, I suggest that simply focusing on one of those objectives would be tantamount to acting in an arbitrary fashion. Under Clause 30, since an adverse impact on just one of these objectives is sufficient to have a triggering effect, what is to prevent the LSB simply extracting one of those seven and, without looking at any of the other six, deciding that an adverse impact is justified and intervening? In my submission, that would be a wholly improper way for the LSB to act, simply by virtue of the way in which Clause 1(1) is drafted, yet that is what Clause 29 entitles it to do. When considering action under Clause 29, the proper approach of the board has to be to analyse each one of the seven objectives before it acts. If that is the obligation on the LSB, it must, as a consequence of analysing each one, then engage in a balancing exercise—it must ineluctably follow—and, as a result of that exercise, come to a conclusion. In the light of the structure of Clause 1(1) and the way in which the Government have told the Committee that they interpret it, there is a conflict in the Bill between Clauses 1(1) and 29. In my submission, the Legal Services Board has no choice; it has to go through the procedure that is laid down in our amendment. The noble Baroness is looking uncharacteristically perplexed. She may or may not want to intervene again. I see that she does—I yield to the noble Baroness.