Clause 13
Legal Services Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Lewisham East, Labour)
First, I apologise to the hon. Member for North Southwark and Bermondsey. He is right that an individual acting on his own behalf would not have to be regulated when conducting legal activities.
The reasoning behind clause 13(4) is that, as thehon. Member for North-West Norfolk might remember, there were some horrific examples of dubious characters giving appallingly bad advice to people regarding immigration and asylum. The Government considered those examples and are now trying to ensure that people who give advice are properly qualified to do so. That is why such matters have been specified.