Legal Services Bill [HL]

My Amendment No. 119A is in this group. Unlike the noble Lord’s amendment, it does not seek to extend mandatory jurisdiction to other areas but would allow for a voluntary extension. The Bill makes the majority of legal activities reserved activities but there are a number of legal and quasi-legal activities which are not reserved, usually for good reason. The full regulation of the legislation would probably inhibit competition regarding will-writing, for example, and the effects would be detrimental to the consumer. However, it means that non-reserved activities are not allowably covered by the ombudsman system. The amendment would allow non-reserved legal service providers to come within the jurisdiction of the ombudsman on a voluntary basis. The model I am thinking of is the financial services sector. Financial services which are not legislatively required to come under the regulatory or ombudsman service can voluntarily, through their own trade association or individual firms, opt to become part of the ombudsman service as a reassurance to the consumers of those services. Normally, a trade association would apply to bring its membership in bulk into the system, but an individual firm could enter. In either case, the conditions would be that voluntary subscription to the ombudsman service would entail acceptance of the terms of the redress rules, compensation limits, information-gathering powers, and so on. The amendment would extend consumer protection into unregulated areas without subjecting those activities to the full burden of regulation operated by the LSB. It would have the other advantage of preventing a new regulatory maze confusing the consumer; parts of the unregulated sector choosing an entirely different system of redress bodies and disputes resolution would be a recipe for confusion and inconsistency. Legal service providers would also benefit because it would lend their services added credibility and status. Displaying the ombudsman logo on their premises and paperwork will enable providers to differentiate themselves from their perhaps less scrupulous rivals who decide, on whatever basis, not to join the ombudsman scheme. I commend the amendment; it would increase consumer protection and the ability to differentiate with regard to the good performers in the non-reserved sector of legal and quasi-legal services.