Legal Services Bill [HL]

I am most grateful to all Members of the Committee who have intervened in the debate and to the Minister who replied. I start off by asking the Minister whether she would like, between now and Report, to think a little further about how the Government define ““consumer””. We have heard in the course of the Committee that the Government are in many ways driven by the consumer interest and their desire to ensure that the consumer gets good value for money, but what do they mean by ““consumer””? Do they mean someone living in a remote rural area, the kind of consumer to whom, for example, the noble Lords, Lord Thomas of Gresford and Lord Carlile, referred? Does the Minister mean the kind of consumer who, if not impoverished, is rather short of money and needs to know about really quite complex legal issues, perhaps associated with social security? Or does she mean the kind of consumer who drives around in a nice motor car and frequents supermarkets and such places where they can purchase really quite desirable and expensive products? If the Bill is to achieve the Government’s stated objective, all the interests of all those consumers must be taken into account. It is simply not possible to talk about the consumer interest in general. One has to break down what one means by consumer in a particular set of circumstances, and, from the way in which the legislation is set out, I see no evidence whatever that the Government have even begun to think about that.