Clause 83
Legal Services Bill [Lords]
9:00 am
Bridget Prentice (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Ministry of Justice; Lewisham East, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman is right in respect of the discussion on access to justice. Many of us are aware—some of my hon. Friends could no doubt give examples—of situations in which an individual goes to a solicitors firm and thinks that they are getting access to justice because the solicitor takes their case, but they subsequently find that, frankly, the standard of work is pretty appalling. That is not access to justice. The consumer groups say that if we put access to justice in the Bill as in paragraph (e) and therefore give it more weight than the other regulatory objectives, such as competition, we could be allowing firms to continue as they are when they ought to be thinking hard about improving their standards and working with others to learn from best practice.
Finally, I am not in any way condemning any solicitors firm in Lewisham high street. I used that location as a general example of a place where consumers might have a problem unless the amendment, which I commend to the Committee, is made.