Clause 113
Legal Services Bill [Lords]
2:45 pm
John Mann (PPS (Rt Hon Richard Caborn, Minister of State), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Bassetlaw, Labour)
I thank the Minister for her response and I note her suggestion that this amendment is not strong enough; I certainly would not wish to have barristers excluded from any provisions in the Bill that they should not be excluded from.
So, I hear what the Minister is saying in relation to the amendment. However, I shall leave it to her to contemplate that there is potentially a loophole here. Although the Minister says that there is nothing that prevents this situation from happening, there is nothing that would make it automatic. A solicitor may go bankrupt—possibly by choice—or do a runner, perhaps because the volume of potential new complaints, which are comparable to the first one heard, can be added up and counted. That is certainly a possibility, and not just a theoretical one but a real one. If the rest of the country were to follow the example of my constituents, large numbers of people might choose to come forward—for example, miners and textile workers. That would create an interesting paradox. This question of positive powers needs some further reflection.
I hear what the Minister says, that the wording of the amendment may not be strong enough to deal with that situation. On that basis, I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment.