Clause 88
Tribunals, Courts and Enforcement Bill [Lords]
1:00 pm
Vera Baird (Parliamentary Under-Secretary, Department for Constitutional Affairs; Redcar, Labour)
But the court may not know whether a credit union exists in the area. They do not exist in every area.
Various piloted pre-action protocols are on the go that involve more or less formal offers of mediation, as the case may be. There are, of course, civil procedure rules that create a general duty on all parties coming to court to settle before the hearing. They are backed up with the ability to make an adverse costs order so that, if the creditor had not taken the steps to which the hon. Gentleman referred, the situation might be deemed unreasonable and produce an adverse consequence if there was an obvious way out of the difficulty. At various stages in the procedures, the court will send notices about where advice is available. Sometimes, it is available at the court itself. Realistically, every effort is made to ensure that the court is, as it is intended to be, only a last resort. I hope that my explanation has satisfied the hon. Gentleman, because I have nothing more to say about the clause.