Legal Services Bill [Lords]

No, the hon. Gentleman is wrong. We have accepted a number of amendments in the House of Lords. For example, we have agreed that the public interest is different from the consumer interest. We have substituted the term ““Lord Chancellor”” for ““Secretary of State””. We have amended the threshold for action on financial penalties. We have accepted the requirement for the ABS licensing authorities to issue policy statements. We have given the board a specific duty to cover ABS in its annual report. We have accepted a number of consumer-focused amendments, a power for ombudsmen to enforce the determination on a complainant’s behalf, and a narrowing of the circumstances in which complainants can be ordered to pay costs, and so on. We have accepted a number of amendments that were proposed in the Lords, and I pay tribute to my noble Friend Baroness Ashton, who worked very closely with others in the Lords in getting the Bill to its current position. Part 7, which sets out further provisions relating to the board and the OLC, will require that those who are subject to regulation must pay for the cost of that regulation. The alternative—that the changes should be funded through general taxation—does not seem appropriate. Parts 8 and 9 will provide for amendments to existing legislation to align it with the Bill.