Legal Services Bill [HL]

I am most grateful. But the Minister must accept that, as matters stand, the legal profession has, at least presumptively, very good grounds for saying, ““Why are we so different from the accountants and the health carers?””. It is a perfectly legitimate question for the legal profession to ask when it faces having to bear the burden not only of enormous start-up costs but of enormous running costs. I would go as far as to say that it is in the Government's interest that the objective case for treating the legal profession differently from those other professions is thoroughly made out. I will go a step further. In my submission—I am repeating myself but I make no apology—there are two very good reasons of principle why the Government should bear part of the running costs. The Legal Services Board is engaged in a number of activities that have nothing whatever to do with disciplining the profession in terms of lax service to consumers or disciplinary misdemeanours. Moreover, under this system, there is a shift of the obligation to bear costs from the public sector to the private sector. At the moment the public sector bears all sorts of responsibilities under the 1990 Act, the cost of which is now being shifted to the legal profession through the regulatory arrangements. At least in respect of those costs, surely it is appropriate for the tax payer to bear the burden. I make no apology for repeating those submissions, which the Minister has heard already. The regulatory arrangements, to some extent, involve a shift of responsibility from the tax payer to the legal profession, in circumstances where many of the new regulatory arrangements have nothing to do with regulating the legal profession whatever. However, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendments Nos. 143 to145A not moved.] [Amendments Nos. 146 and 147 had been withdrawn from the Marshalled List.] Clause 166 agreed to. Clause 167 [The levy: supplementary provisions]: [Amendment No. 148 not moved.] Clause 167 agreed to. Clause 168 agreed to. Clause 169 [Duties of regulated persons]: