Legal Services Bill [HL]

I underline and endorse what the two previous noble Lords had to say about rural areas, particularly what is said in paragraph 324 of the House of Commons and House of Lords report on the draft Legal Services Bill, to which the noble Lord, Lord Hunt, referred. I spend quite a lot of my time in the West Country, which is a rather less well off area of England where the absence of legal aid is hitting quite hard. The effect of the ABS firm may be quite dramatic in an area such as that. For the licensing authority to have the requirement of access for justice immediately in front of it, in that section of the Act, would be a very useful reminder. I strongly support this amendment.