Legal Services Bill [HL]

I am having a little difficulty in understanding Clause 81. Perhaps I can explain my difficulties so that the noble Baronesscan set them at rest. The first line of the clausestates: "““The Board (acting in its capacity as a licensing authority)””." According to the ordinary rules of grammar, you would think that that would apply to the rest of the provision but that is not the case. Subsection (1)(b) says that the board, "““may make or modify its licensing rules only with the approval of the Board (acting otherwise than in its capacity as a licensing authority or as an approved regulator)””." So far as I understand the provisions—that may be quite a restriction—the board acting as a licensing authority is the same as the board acting not as a licensing authority in its construction. Therefore, the board has to make the rules acting, under subsection (1)(a), in its capacity as a licensing authority and approve those same rules not acting in its capacityas a licensing authority. That seems a somewhat unnecessary complication. How it is supposed to add to the business, I do not know. Assuming that one gets over these slight grammatical difficulties, do the rules that the board makes in its capacity as a licensing authority apply to other licensing authorities? Clause 81(3) states: "““Licensing rules of a licensing authority are rules as to””." Therefore, for example, in so far as the Law Society might be a licensing authority, its licensing rules are not the rules of the board, so to whom do the board’s licensing rules apply, particularly if they are not intended to apply generally but simply in some kind of overarching emergency? I find this whole provision a little difficult but I have no doubt that the noble Baroness will be able to explain it in a way that even I will be able to understand.