Legal Services Bill [HL]

The same applies to this part of the House. The noble Lord, Lord Neill of Bladen, can rely on our support, too. The noble Lord is, after all, only developing the approach set out by Sir David Clementi in his report. While Sir David saw the merits of alternative business structures, he was at pains to emphasise that they should be introduced only gradually. It seems to us that the proposal of the noble Lord, Lord Neill, is the best way of ensuring that Sir David’s approach is adopted. The speech made by the noble and learned Baroness, Lady Butler-Sloss, reminds us how important it is to give the definition of ““consumer”” a very wide interpretation. I have felt during the debates on many amendments in this Bill that the Government have had their eyes mainly on what I would describe as the ““middle-class consumer””. But the consumer who is really vulnerable under Part 5 is, if I may paraphrase the noble and learned Baroness, the unprofitable, difficult and time-consuming litigant, often to be found in the rather more impoverished areas of large cities or in remote rural locations who desperately needs the small firm that may be under threat and therefore ought to be the result of careful examination before Part 5 comes into effect. I think that the noble Lord, Lord Neill, has done the House a great service by tabling the amendment.