Schedule 1
Legal Services Bill [Lords]
4:00 pm
Jonathan Djanogly (Shadow Solicitor General (Also Shadow Minister for Trade and Industry), Law Officers (Assist the Home Affairs Team); Huntingdon, Conservative)
The Government argued that, by allowing the Lord Chancellor to appoint the Legal Services Board alone, he would in some way be able to better protect British consumers. However, that is merely speculative. The Lord Chief Justice is no less able than the Lord Chancellor to give effect to the intended statutory regulatory objective to protect the interests of consumers. Indeed, give the standing of politicians in the public eye at the moment, it is arguable that the Lord Chief Justice will be seen as more important and a greater friend to the consumer than the Lord Chancellor. By the way, contrary to what the Minister said earlier, the Joint Committee’s Second Reading briefing, which called for the Legal Services Board to be appointed by an independent commission—as judicial appointments are made, for example—rather than by the Secretary of State, also specifically said that all appointments should be made at arm’s length from Government. The Lord Chief Justice has a great interest in safeguarding the independence of the profession, which exists to serve the justice system that he is in charge of.
We need to rethink the appointments provisions generally. There are key three issues. First, the legal services ombudsman and the Law Society Consumer Complaints Board have limited scope for action, compared with the Legal Services Board, because they do not deal with the mainstream regulation, only with complaints. Secondly, as the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey rightly said, the Lord Chancellor now has a different role from the one he used to have. He is not the head of the judiciary now and could be a much more political figure in the House of Commons. Thirdly, this is a modernising Bill, which we welcome. Just because Nolan worked 10 years ago in its current form, that is no reason why we should not rethink it now in today’s circumstances and in relation to the Bill.
Transparency and impartiality are essential attributes of any public appointments system, especially if it is to retain the confidence and respect of the general public. The Legal Services Board does not pass this test if the Lord Chancellor alone is to have sole power to appoint and terminate it. If agreed to, the amendments could fatally undermine the LSB from its inception. That is the view of the legal profession, the Law Society, the Bar Council, other regulators, the Conservatives, the Liberal Democrats and Cross-Bench peers who amended the Bill in the House of Lords. This is also the view of certain foreign legal regulators. The Minister and her colleagues should now open their eyes to the evidence and ask leave to withdraw their amendments.