Legal Services Bill [HL]

I understand very well the reason for monitoring and research. Like the noble Lord, Lord Borrie, I would very much be in favour of that when fitted to the circumstances of the particular matter being tested. But, like other noble Lords—possibly it is because of approaching sunset in any event—I am not at all in favour of the sunset clause, which is a kind of confession in advance that you are rather doubtful whether the thing will work. There may be doubts about whether the thing will work, but I do not think that we should put the statute on the statute book under such an impression. On conditional fee arrangements, perhaps my noble friend has forgotten that these were initiated by a Government of which he was a Member—they were greatly extended later—with the benefit of the Lord Chancellor’s advisory committee to express views about how they were going. Indeed, sometimes the views were adverse to what was being proposed, but we had the benefit of that sort of advice. I would be in favour of some form of provision for monitoring and research, but not the provision of the sunset clause.