Schedule 1
Legal Services Bill [Lords]
4:00 pm
Adrian Bailey (PPS (Rt Hon Adam Ingram, Minister of State), Ministry of Defence; West Bromwich West, Labour)
I have heard the consumer perspective being prayed in aid of the Lord Chief Justice having the veto on the chair of the Legal Services Board, but in all my experience the public perception of the legal fraternity is that it is a closed shop. The breakdown in confidence is to do with the profession’s self-regulatory nature, as perceived by the public. Indeed, members of public have come to me asking for Government interference, in order that the legal fraternity does not regulate itself. That totally contradicts the argument that both the hon. Gentleman and the hon. Member for Huntingdon, the lead member of his party, have made. I do not believe that there is a great concern among the public about the interference of the Government. The concern is about the self-regulatory nature of the organisation.