Legal Services Bill [HL]

My Lords, like the noble Baroness, I reflected on our exchanges on this amendment in Committee, particularly on what the noble Baroness said about the circumstances in which it might be necessary to have this qualifying phrase, which on the face of it appears to cut down the duty of the Legal Services Board to have regard to and to comply with the various considerations set out in the regulatory objectives. In Committee, the noble Baroness spoke of potential tensions between the different objectives and appeared to seek to address the possible conflict between them in particular cases. That was a perfectly reasonable point. In addressing that reasonable concern, she has introduced into the Bill language that goes much beyond the reconciliation of conflicting objectives in particular cases. She has made it possible for the Legal Services Board to disregard objectives for reasons that are unconnected with the objectives themselves but may be connected with the circumstances that have given rise to the complaints. For that reason, it is incumbent on the noble Baroness either to explain why it is necessary in general terms or to come up with language that confines the exclusion clause to the particular circumstances of reconciling different, conflicting objectives. I hope that she will regard that as a constructive suggestion and not as one intended to strike down her arguments, which seem very reasonable; but the response is dangerous.