Legal Services Bill [HL]

Perhaps I may explain how the interim chief executive will operate. Someone has to make decisions and the word ““interim”” does not suggest that the person will be somehow less able to carry out these functions than would otherwise be the case. The question that we had to ask ourselves is this: bearing in mind the length of time that it will take to make all the appointments necessary to set up the organisations, how do we make sure that the transition begins in a seamless and appropriate way? We want someone of extremely high calibre to come in during the interim precisely because ultimately the responsibilities will fall elsewhere and a chief executive will be appointed. In the mean time, it is appropriate to appoint someone to get on with sorting out the basic tasks that need to be done. I agree wholeheartedly with the noble Lord about IT systems. We would not appoint someone who did not know how to approach this. They will have the skills and qualifications to know how to seek advice on IT and how to organise the suppliers and so forth. That will be an important part of their functions, which is why I highlighted it specifically. However, the interim chief executive cannot appoint the ombudsmen or make the scheme rules. We have said that directions will be issued initially by the Lord Chancellor and then, once appointed, the board. In reality, we expect the interim chief executive and the board to be appointed at roughly the same time. As a consequence, the interim chief executive will be subject to directions issued by the Lord Chancellor only for a very short period, if at all. We have developed the timetable for the appointment of the board and the interim chief executive in discussion with people in our department and officials involved in establishing other organisations, including the Judicial Appointments Commission. As I said, they will be subject to directions issued by the Lord Chancellor because we need to make sure that we have accountability. Other independent appointees are subject to directions issued by the Lord Chancellor, too, not least under Schedule 8 to the Access to Justice Act, which enables the Lord Chancellor to give directions to the Legal Services Complaints Commissioner. The board’s oversight also mitigates any risk that the incoming OLC and the interim appointee’s successor, who will be permanent, may want to move in a different direction and thus unravel the efforts already made. That is because, following the transition period, the board will continue to have oversight of and be able to hold to account the OLC. The continuity of board appointments and the work of the interim chief executive will ensure that the organisation continues to move in the right direction. Again, we have consulted stakeholders, who are broadly content because these provisions enable us to get the body up and running as soon as possible. The five-year period in the land disposal clause is not connected to the period for the interim chief executive. The OLC, and no one else, will determine when the interim chief executive’s appointment will end. We are doing this in order to get things moving in the manner that I have described: HR policy, pay structures, pension provision and so forth. We want someone to get on with that side of the work, who will not be involved in the critical appointments of ombudsmen and, ultimately, not be involved in the long-term direction of the organisation, but who will have a link to the board, which will be appointed at approximately the same time, enabling the Lord Chancellor to give directions to bridge what we hope will be a short gap between the appointment of the interim chief executive and the board itself. We can then move in the right direction. I hope that this has given some comfort to the noble Lord and that he will feel able to withdraw his amendment.