Clause 11
Legal Services Bill [Lords]
10:00 am
Henry Bellingham (Shadow Minister, Constitutional Affairs; North West Norfolk, Conservative)
I also endorse what has been said. As my hon. Friend the Member for Huntingdon pointed out a moment ago, the consumer panel must have direction and focus. It would be wrong for it to be purely a reactive panel. It must be proactive. Let us consider the various disasters that have taken place in respect of how the consumer is affected by a legal action—indeed, the hon. Members for Bassetlaw and for North Durham know well that it would have been useful if the consumer panel had been in place when case of the miners’ compensation scheme was going on, as it could have taken up the cudgels on behalf of the people who were afflicted by that appalling, ghastly saga.