Clause 14
Legal Services Bill [Lords]
2:45 pm
Simon Hughes (Party President, Cross-Portfolio and Non-Portfolio Responsibilities; North Southwark and Bermondsey, Liberal Democrat)
If I want somebody to do some plumbing, I know that the person who comes to do the central heating boiler, or whatever, will need to conform with the CORGI registration scheme, under which plumbers are CORGI-registered. Again, I should like the Minister to reflect on whether the objective should be for people to be able to check at any time whether anybody in the legal services field is, on that date, registered to do the job on the official list. Data systems are never perfect. However, given that the purpose of the Bill is to establish an umbrella in relation to reserved legal activities, with the Legal Services Board regulating all the people involved, the consumer interest must be that people should be able to go to one place and should not have to duck and dive. We are talking about people who are not familiar with the places the professionals inhabit and do not necessarily understand the distinction. Perhaps the Minister could reflect on that, because if we could achieve that it would benefit the whole system.