UK Parliament / Open data

Legal Services Bill [Lords]

Debate on bills on Monday, 4 June 2007, in the House of Commons, led by Bridget Prentice. The answering member was Oliver Heald.

Legal Services Bill (HL). Second reading debate. Agreed to on question. Programme motion on proceedings in Committee, on Report, Third Reading and any other proceedings. Agreed to on question. Queens recommendation signified. Money resolution agreed to on question. Ways and means resolution agreed to on question.

About these Parliamentary proceedings

Reference

461 c24-106

Session

2006-07

Proceeding contributions

Lord Beamish | 461 c89-90 (Link to this contribution) They certainly do. Watson Burton’s defence in Newcastle’s The Journal last week was that it had a ““...

Lord Mann | 461 c89 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend not find that, invariably, the solicitors write to the individual saying that th...

Show all contributions (189)

Oliver Heald | 461 c92 (Link to this contribution) I am following what the hon. Gentleman says. Will he tell us whether the Scottish National party, wh...

Mike Weir | 461 c90-2 (Link to this contribution) I start by declaring my interest. I am a non-practising solicitor, although a Scottish solicitor, an...

Jonathan Djanogly | 461 c93-5 (Link to this contribution) This has been an interesting, albeit sometimes technical, debate on a matter that is certainly of co...

Mike Weir | 461 c92-3 (Link to this contribution) I shall come to that. The Legal Profession and Legal Aid (Scotland) Act 2007 that was passed earlier...

Lord Beamish | 461 c95 (Link to this contribution) I am interested in the hon. Gentleman’s comments on legal executives, but is not the reason for that...

Lord Beamish | 461 c87-8 (Link to this contribution) That is a good try, and if I were attempting to protect my own profession, I too would probably try ...

Shailesh Vara | 461 c88 (Link to this contribution) For the record, I am not saying that the appointment of the legal ombudsman is an irrelevance. I am ...

Vera Baird | 461 c102-3 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman, running backwards as fast as he can without quite falling over, ignores the code...

Oliver Heald | 461 c102 (Link to this contribution) The Minister may not yet have fully appreciated the significance of the change to the Lord Chancello...

Vera Baird | 461 c101 (Link to this contribution) Ah—I sense a wee shifting of ground here. We are talking about consultation, are we? That is not the...

Vera Baird | 461 c103-4 (Link to this contribution) Caution is the Government’s watchword, and we will proceed with monitoring as we go along, but silly...

David Burrowes | 461 c103 (Link to this contribution) To go back to the Minister’s categorisation of those who want a sunrise clause as people employing a...

Vera Baird | 461 c101 (Link to this contribution) Yes, but let me first make one more point. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman will respond when he intervene...

Oliver Heald | 461 c101 (Link to this contribution) Will the Minister give way?

Vera Baird | 461 c98-101 (Link to this contribution) I thank both Opposition parties for the support that they have broadly given to the Bill. I thank al...

Jonathan Djanogly | 461 c95-8 (Link to this contribution) As the hon. Gentleman knows, if a complaint is made, it is firstly made against the law firm, and mo...

Shailesh Vara | 461 c82 (Link to this contribution) I am arguing about the Legal Services Bill. If the hon. Gentleman wishes to perpetuate the system an...

Robert Neill | 461 c81-2 (Link to this contribution) Is not my hon. Friend’s important point reinforced by the precedent set when Hong Kong was returned ...

Shailesh Vara | 461 c81 (Link to this contribution) I am here to discuss the Legal Services Bill, which talks of the Lord Chancellor appointing the lega...

Lord Mann | 461 c82 (Link to this contribution) Why has it not happened already? On the hon. Gentleman’s logic, we have political interference with ...

Shailesh Vara | 461 c82 (Link to this contribution) I agree and I am grateful to my hon. Friend for clarifying the point and for making that interventio...

Lord Beamish | 461 c81 (Link to this contribution) The legal services ombudsman—who, as was demonstrated by my hon. Friend the Member for Bassetlaw (Jo...

Shailesh Vara | 461 c81 (Link to this contribution) I was referring to the Minister’s opening comments. I shall deal with concurrence later, but I recal...

Lord Beamish | 461 c81 (Link to this contribution) Is the hon. Gentleman saying that the current arrangement—under which the Lord Chancellor appoints t...

Shailesh Vara | 461 c81 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman has raised that question on a number of occasions. He may not have entirely under...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c80 (Link to this contribution) What has been included in the Bill is concurrence, not consultation.

Robert Neill | 461 c87 (Link to this contribution) I am not unsympathetic to all the points that the hon. Gentleman is making, but for the sake of fair...

Lord Mann | 461 c85 (Link to this contribution) On the subject of Watson Burton, my hon. Friend and I have both got money back for those of our cons...

Lord Beamish | 461 c84-5 (Link to this contribution) Yes—and very generously in some cases. As a result, there was an avalanche of complaints not only a...

Lord Mann | 461 c84 (Link to this contribution) Generously.

Lord Beamish | 461 c84 (Link to this contribution) May I start by saying that I am not a solicitor or legally qualified, but I have a vested interest t...

Shailesh Vara | 461 c82-3 (Link to this contribution) I refer the hon. Gentleman to my earlier comments. I am here to debate the Legal Services Bill. He m...

Shailesh Vara | 461 c82 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is not following what we are saying. It is clear that Britain’s legal services s...

Lord Beamish | 461 c82 (Link to this contribution) Are the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Bromley and Chislehurst (Robert Neill) both saying th...

Lord Mann | 461 c72-4 (Link to this contribution) When I consider the solicitors in my area, one has to travel a significant distance to find a firm t...

Lord Beamish | 461 c72 (Link to this contribution) Would my hon. Friend like to comment on a letter that I received this morning from Fiona Woolf, the ...

Robert Neill | 461 c74 (Link to this contribution) I apologise for not hearing the beginning of the hon. Gentleman’s remarks, but I have just returned ...

Vera Baird | 461 c69 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman raised that issue with the Under-Secretary, my hon. Friend the Member for Lewisha...

David Burrowes | 461 c71 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful for that intervention. I am the first to admit that I have seen and been frustrated an...

Vera Baird | 461 c71 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman knows very well that approximately 95 per cent. of all solicitors signed the unif...

David Burrowes | 461 c71-2 (Link to this contribution) The Under-Secretary knows about the great concern about signing that contract. The fact that 95 per ...

Lord Mann | 461 c72 (Link to this contribution) I declare an interest, which is different from most of the others that have been declared. I have in...

Shailesh Vara | 461 c80 (Link to this contribution) I begin by declaring an interest. I am a non-practising solicitor. The principles behind the Bill s...

Lord Mann | 461 c74-5 (Link to this contribution) I intend to go through the amendments, not least because there is a whisper that the Opposition are ...

David Burrowes | 461 c75 (Link to this contribution) Does not the Bill provide that the first chairman of the legal services board will be a lay person? ...

Lord Mann | 461 c74 (Link to this contribution) I thank the hon. Gentleman, who will be delighted to know that I am coming on to deal with barrister...

David Burrowes | 461 c74 (Link to this contribution) I am disappointed that the hon. Gentleman did not make it to the Joint Committee, as I would have en...

Lord Mann | 461 c76-8 (Link to this contribution) I agree totally with my hon. Friend. I would like the legal services board’s powers over the approve...

Lord Beamish | 461 c78-9 (Link to this contribution) Has my hon. Friend also come across another problem whereby constituents legally transfer their case...

Lord Mann | 461 c76 (Link to this contribution) If it is good to have an independent person at the beginning, it is also good in the continuum. Let ...

Lord Beamish | 461 c76 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend also agree that one of the problems with the current system is the closed shop o...

David Burrowes | 461 c65-6 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Gentleman. The essence of the Bill, and the concern of the Opposition, is ...

Adrian Bailey | 461 c63-5 (Link to this contribution) I agree absolutely. Many people in areas such as the one that I represent want as little as possible...

Lord Beamish | 461 c63 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that one of the biggest problems is that many people do not know how to co...

Lord Mann | 461 c65 (Link to this contribution) Given the hon. Gentleman’s commendable introduction, does he agree that robust regulation of those w...

David Burrowes | 461 c65 (Link to this contribution) I proudly declare an interest as a practising solicitor. I do not apologise for being a solicitor, e...

Adrian Bailey | 461 c61-2 (Link to this contribution) I start by declaring an interest: I am not a lawyer, but I am a Labour and Co-operative Member of Pa...

Lord Beamish | 461 c62 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend agree that if a piece of trade union legislation was going through Parliament an...

Adrian Bailey | 461 c62-3 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes an important and valuable point, which underlines my next observation, which is...

Lord Beamish | 461 c61 (Link to this contribution) You are.

David Burrowes | 461 c68-9 (Link to this contribution) I want to make some more progress. In the other place, arguments were made about areas that I do no...

Lord Mann | 461 c68 (Link to this contribution) Will the hon. Gentleman give way?

David Burrowes | 461 c68 (Link to this contribution) Not at all. Far be it from me to speak on behalf of the legal profession—I am as much a consumer and...

Lord Beamish | 461 c67 (Link to this contribution) That is a fair point, but will the hon. Gentleman comment on the fact that the legal services ombuds...

Lord Mann | 461 c67 (Link to this contribution) I am rather confused about the direction in which the hon. Gentleman is going by suggesting that the...

David Burrowes | 461 c67 (Link to this contribution) If the hon. Gentleman will be patient, I shall come to the process and give some examples of the Gov...

Lord Beamish | 461 c67 (Link to this contribution) If that individual had not got the good service that the hon. Gentleman describes and was dissatisfi...

David Burrowes | 461 c67 (Link to this contribution) I support the Bill and the intention to establish a one-stop shop for legal complaints. That would p...

Lord Beamish | 461 c66 (Link to this contribution) I agree entirely that the legal services board should be independent of Government. Does the hon. Ge...

David Burrowes | 461 c66-7 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is correct that the issue is independence, but it depends how one defines ““legal...

Simon Hughes | 461 c60 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely understand that point. We have debated how we do not want a health service in which peo...

Simon Hughes | 461 c60 (Link to this contribution) I will not give way because otherwise colleagues will not have the opportunity to make their points—...

David Heath | 461 c60 (Link to this contribution) A further difficulty is very much evident in areas such as mine, which my hon. Friend identified. Sm...

Vera Baird | 461 c58 (Link to this contribution) I am anxious to follow the hon. Gentleman’s point because he speaks as though public input into the ...

Simon Hughes | 461 c58-9 (Link to this contribution) The Minister is right; they are separate points. Of course, there is discretion, which remains right...

Simon Hughes | 461 c60 (Link to this contribution) The Ministers are saying that that is absolute rubbish, but it is not. In practice, many firms make ...

Lord Beamish | 461 c61 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman’s point about access to justice, but why should people in rural comm...

Lord Beamish | 461 c57 (Link to this contribution) You are.

Simon Hughes | 461 c57-8 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely was not arguing that the consumer should bear the cost. I was arguing that not all the ...

Lord Beamish | 461 c57 (Link to this contribution) I find the hon. Gentleman’s contribution absolutely fascinating. The Liberal party is supposed to st...

Simon Hughes | 461 c57 (Link to this contribution) I absolutely was not arguing that—

Jonathan Djanogly | 461 c57 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will appreciate that because of changes made by the Labour Government, the Lord C...

Simon Hughes | 461 c57 (Link to this contribution) I accept that. Indeed, my hon. Friends and I have always argued, in recent years, that there should ...

Lord Mann | 461 c58 (Link to this contribution) In the interests of consistency, will the hon. Gentleman and his party argue that the costs of trade...

Simon Hughes | 461 c58 (Link to this contribution) That is an entirely separate debate, but certain costs are met—for example, those associated with ce...

Lord Beamish | 461 c58 (Link to this contribution) I think that I understand the legal services complaints system quite well. Will the hon. Gentleman e...

Simon Hughes | 461 c58 (Link to this contribution) The Government’s proposal, which is generally supported, is that there should be a legal services bo...

David Kidney | 461 c51 (Link to this contribution) It is very helpful to get a speedy response to the request that was made by the hon. Member for Nort...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c51 (Link to this contribution) May I shed further light on the issue of costs and in a sense apologise to the hon. Member for North...

David Kidney | 461 c51 (Link to this contribution) That is generous of the Minister. We must guard jealously those qualities that make our legal servi...

Simon Hughes | 461 c51-4 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Member for Stafford (Mr. Kidney) was right: this is not a Bill for which colleagues have co...

Lord Mann | 461 c54 (Link to this contribution) How many others were not lawyers?

Simon Hughes | 461 c54-5 (Link to this contribution) There were not many. I accept that the majority were lawyers—I was not on the Committee—I was making...

Oliver Heald | 461 c55 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. Gentleman agree that none of the amendments conflict with what Sir David Clementi prop...

Simon Hughes | 461 c55-6 (Link to this contribution) I agree. The amendments all help to achieve a better list of principles in clause 1. The principles ...

Lord Mann | 461 c56 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman used the word ““we””. Are we to understand that in his extraordinary eulogy to th...

Simon Hughes | 461 c56-7 (Link to this contribution) First, yes, I speak on behalf of the Liberal Democrats. Secondly, my speech is not a eulogy to the l...

David Kidney | 461 c44 (Link to this contribution) Earlier, I quoted from a letter from Sir David Clementi. Would the hon. Gentleman accept a position ...

Oliver Heald | 461 c44 (Link to this contribution) That is better than nothing—we would be prepared to debate it. However, there is little to criticise...

Lord Beamish | 461 c43 (Link to this contribution) Why?

Oliver Heald | 461 c43-4 (Link to this contribution) We are talking about pillars of the constitution. Let us think about the judicial pillar—our courts....

David Kidney | 461 c46-50 (Link to this contribution) I declare my interest—a modest one—as a non-practising solicitor. It is important to acknowledge som...

Oliver Heald | 461 c50 (Link to this contribution) Would it not be useful if the Minister could give us an updated estimate of the start-up costs? Of c...

David Burrowes | 461 c44 (Link to this contribution) Is not it a concern that there is little on the face of the Bill to guarantee independence? There is...

Oliver Heald | 461 c44-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes the point clearly. I agree that he outlines a concern. We should not trifle wit...

David Kidney | 461 c50 (Link to this contribution) Yes, indeed. The latest estimate that I have seen is in the briefing sent to us by the Institute of ...

Vera Baird | 461 c50-1 (Link to this contribution) I hope I can help. Our revised estimate of the transition cost is £32.1 million, which does not enti...

Oliver Heald | 461 c104 (Link to this contribution) The hon. and learned Lady seems to suggest that she fully accepts the comments made by the hon. Memb...

Vera Baird | 461 c104 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman does not listen to what my hon. Friends the Members for North Durham and for Bass...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c27-8 (Link to this contribution) I have always been a great advocate of pre-legislative scrutiny. The timing was challenging, but the...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c28 (Link to this contribution) Clause 1 sets out the regulatory objectives, one of which is"““encouraging an independent, strong, d...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c28 (Link to this contribution) That is not the view of the consumers with whom we have discussed the issue. They strongly believe t...

Lord Beamish | 461 c28 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that what is paramount is for the legal services board to be seen to be inde...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c29 (Link to this contribution) I think my hon. Friend and I are at one on this issue, but I fear that one of my lawyer friends may ...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c29 (Link to this contribution) One of the benefits of allowing the Lord Chancellor to make the appointments is that, as well as the...

David Kidney | 461 c29 (Link to this contribution) After giving evidence to the Select Committee, Sir David Clementi wrote to the Chairman, Lord Hunt o...

Rob Marris | 461 c29 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend is being as generous as ever. I am a non-practising solicitor. She has given helpful ...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c29-30 (Link to this contribution) I am interested in consumer views abroad. I know that there are those who suggest that the legal pro...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c30-1 (Link to this contribution) I have looked into that because the one example that is constantly cited to me is the German example...

Lord Mann | 461 c31-2 (Link to this contribution) Far be it for me to be seen as a defender of the legal profession, but will the Minister take into c...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c30 (Link to this contribution) I will give way for the final time to the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire (Mr. Heald). I ap...

Oliver Heald | 461 c30 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Lady is being very generous in giving way. I was pleased that she said that she would look ...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c32 (Link to this contribution) The answer to that question is quite straightforward. If a trade union wishes to give other advice o...

Oliver Heald | 461 c32 (Link to this contribution) Given the appalling record that the Minister has just alluded to with two trade unions, does she rea...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c32 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend has been robust in his pursuit of Vendside and others over the appalling way in which...

John Bercow | 461 c33 (Link to this contribution) I am grateful to the hon. Lady for giving way. She rightly says that part 6, through clause 114, pro...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c33 (Link to this contribution) I shall give way first to the hon. Member for Buckingham (John Bercow) as he has yet to intervene.

Lord Beamish | 461 c33 (Link to this contribution) I do not think that £20,000 is a high enough limit. May I give the Minister an example? Mrs. X, from...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c33 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman makes a reasonable point, and as always, he is accurate about the detail and the ...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c32-3 (Link to this contribution) The Bill does touch on Scotland, in the sense that we will give effect to the Legal Profession and L...

Mike Weir | 461 c32 (Link to this contribution) I should perhaps declare an interest, in that I am a non-practising solicitor, although as a Scottis...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c34 (Link to this contribution) I understand my hon. Friend’s point, which is why the Bill allows for the amount to be increased. We...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c34 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a very good case for tabling an amendment in Committee—should he be on the Comm...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c36 (Link to this contribution) No, the hon. Gentleman is wrong. We have accepted a number of amendments in the House of Lords. For ...

Simon Hughes | 461 c36 (Link to this contribution) The Minister helpfully indicated earlier how many of the pre-legislative scrutiny Committee’s recomm...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c35-6 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes the very important point that the improvement made in recent years by the Legal...

David Leslie Taylor | 461 c35 (Link to this contribution) I must declare an interest, in that I am in a minority in the Chamber because I am not a lawyer. Bef...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c34-5 (Link to this contribution) No, that is not what I am saying. Perhaps the hon. Gentleman’s lack of knowledge of the trade union ...

Oliver Heald | 461 c34 (Link to this contribution) The Minister will understand the concern caused by the idea that if a shop steward represented a uni...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c34 (Link to this contribution) Yes. As I said, under part 3 we will exempt the trade unions when they provide services to their mem...

Jonathan Djanogly | 461 c34 (Link to this contribution) I state my interest as a solicitor and as a member of the Law Society. The Minister says that she wi...

David Burrowes | 461 c36 (Link to this contribution) In relation to the board, I have not yet heard whether the Minister will honour the undertaking give...

Oliver Heald | 461 c37-8 (Link to this contribution) I welcome the Bill, which addresses serious issues regarding the regulation of solicitors, barrister...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c36-7 (Link to this contribution) I will have to look in more detail at whether we have given such an undertaking. It is not one that ...

Oliver Heald | 461 c38-9 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I agree absolutely. The hon. Gentleman and I have made common cause on some of those cases and ...

Lord Beamish | 461 c38 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman that lawyers should act in the best interests of their clients. Howe...

Oliver Heald | 461 c40 (Link to this contribution) The Minister may misunderstand the position herself. I have on many occasions attended tribunals whe...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c39-40 (Link to this contribution) I think that the hon. Gentleman is inadvertently misleading the House by suggesting that trade union...

Oliver Heald | 461 c40-1 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman will see in the Bill the list of activities for which, if undertaken by a trade u...

Lord Beamish | 461 c40 (Link to this contribution) I used to attend industrial tribunals on a weekly basis, as an unqualified solicitor and as a trade ...

Oliver Heald | 461 c41 (Link to this contribution) Perhaps that is an interesting reflection on a change of personnel. All that I can say is that when ...

David Kidney | 461 c41 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman prays in aid Which?, but has he seen the briefing that it gave hon. Members for t...

Lord Mann | 461 c41 (Link to this contribution) How would the hon. Gentleman deal with a complaint from a consumer where—for example, in many of the...

Oliver Heald | 461 c41 (Link to this contribution) Yes, I agree entirely. One of the first points that I made was that I support the setting up of an o...

Simon Hughes | 461 c41 (Link to this contribution) In the debate about complaints—MPs have great experience of complaints against solicitors rather tha...

Oliver Heald | 461 c42-3 (Link to this contribution) One would start in such a case with the solicitor’s firm, but it is important that the new office fo...

Lord Mann | 461 c42 (Link to this contribution) That is precisely the point. There is a raft of complaints concerning the process whereby the solici...

Oliver Heald | 461 c42 (Link to this contribution) I suspect that the hon. Gentleman is referring to a particular case, of which I do not know the full...

Oliver Heald | 461 c43 (Link to this contribution) The reason for suggesting the Lord Chief Justice is that he is the head of the judiciary and as such...

Lord Beamish | 461 c43 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman about transparency. Is it not also a fact that the appointments will...

Oliver Heald | 461 c43 (Link to this contribution) Before I give way to the hon. Gentleman again, he should reflect on the fact that the legal services...

Lord Beamish | 461 c25 (Link to this contribution) Does the Minister agree that the key thing that comes through from the deliberations of the other pl...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c25 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman is right about the ombudsman’s report, but my point is that while there are many ...

Oliver Heald | 461 c25 (Link to this contribution) Does not the hon. Lady recognise, however, that when the Bar Council disciplines someone, the people...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c25 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes the vital point that the only body to argue for the Bar Council to retain the r...

Lord Beamish | 461 c25-6 (Link to this contribution) Does my hon. Friend also agree that the relationship between solicitors and barristers needs to be e...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c25 (Link to this contribution) Of course we should not lose those skills. I am sure that the office for legal complaints, to which ...

Simon Hughes | 461 c27 (Link to this contribution) I think that everyone in both Houses is grateful to the Committee that carried out the pre-legislati...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c26-7 (Link to this contribution) My hon. Friend makes a valid point. He is right: the purpose of the office for legal complaints is t...

David Burrowes | 461 c27 (Link to this contribution) As a lawyer and a member of the Joint Committee, I take issue with the point about not rushing the l...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c27 (Link to this contribution) I cannot say in all honesty that I would accept the amendments on that basis. We have accepted 34 or...

Oliver Heald | 461 c25 (Link to this contribution) I will just acknowledge that I am a barrister, though not a practising one. Would not the Minister a...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c24-5 (Link to this contribution) I beg to move, That the Bill be now read a Second time. I am absolutely delighted that, at last, af...

Lord Beamish | 461 c85-7 (Link to this contribution) I am about to get on to that important point. I am pleased that the Minister has stated—not only in ...

Lord Mann | 461 c82 (Link to this contribution) So the hon. Gentleman does include the legal services ombudsman, then.

Lord Mann | 461 c79-80 (Link to this contribution) Those solicitors think that some of the claims will not be worth a great deal and can be pushed to t...

Lord Beamish | 461 c59-60 (Link to this contribution) Does not the hon. Gentleman agree that that is already happening with regard to the legal profession...

Oliver Heald | 461 c28 (Link to this contribution) It is clearly important to reflect both the consumer interest and the public interest, but there is ...

Simon Hughes | 461 c28 (Link to this contribution) As the Minister will have realised, this is controversial territory, to which the House of Lords dev...

Bridget Prentice | 461 c29 (Link to this contribution) I want to move on but I promised my hon. Friend the Member for Wolverhampton, South-West (Rob Marris...

Lord Mann | 461 c34 (Link to this contribution) No doubt the matter will be gone into in more detail in Committee. However, is the Minister aware of...

Lord Beamish | 461 c88-9 (Link to this contribution) The hon. Gentleman said in his earlier contribution that the proposal was somehow an attack on the f...

Oliver Heald | 461 c101 (Link to this contribution) Does the hon. and learned Lady not recognise that we are in a different world, with new roles for th...

David Burrowes | 461 c69-71 (Link to this contribution) I am not sure of the order of events relating to the Committee’s advice, but certainly in the other ...

Lord Beamish | 461 c71 (Link to this contribution) I agree with the hon. Gentleman about access to justice. However, does he agree that any method that...

Simon Hughes | 461 c61 (Link to this contribution) I am not generalising at all. There are some extremely good local firms of solicitors that deal comp...

Simon Hughes | 461 c61 (Link to this contribution) It is impossible to generalise on this issue.

Subjects

Complaints

Compensation

Consumers

Costs

Competition

Legal profession

Finance

Fees and charges

Legal aid scheme

Industrial injuries

Law Society

Legal Services Ombudsman

Misconduct

Low incomes

Public appointments

Ombudsman

Lord Chief Justice

Lord Chancellor's Department

Standards

Regulation

Trade unions

Rural areas

Solicitors

Wills

General Council of the Bar

Legal Services Board

Office for Legal Complaints

Alternative business structures

Legislation

Legal Services Bill (HL) 2006-07

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