Clause 15
Legal Services Bill [Lords]
11:15 am
Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Lewisham East, Labour)
In that case, if the certification officer says that he has no way in which to define associate members in that context, I shall certainly look again at the issue.
I want to be clear. The vast majority of trade unions work properly and do an excellent job for their members. The exemption would give them the opportunity to continue to do that. In the case of rogues, we need to be able to deal with them. If we need to add a further measure to ensure that that is the case, I will be more than happy to do so. Like my hon. Friend, I do not believe that it is in our interests as the Government acting on behalf of the consumers, whether trade union members or others, to give leeway to anyone who will undermine the consumer interest in the Bill.
The hon. Member for Birmingham, Yardley asked the reasonable question whether we were dealing with a problem that does not exist. He was asking about the provision of legal services by trade unions. Generally speaking, that is a rare occurrence within union membership, but it happens from time to time. My hon. Friend the Member for North Durham cited the example of industrial injury cases. Work on those is reserved if they go to court.