Compensation Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 51:"Page 10, line 12, leave out paragraph 11 and insert—" ““11 (1)   Regulations shall provide for the Regulator to investigate complaints about the professional conduct of an authorised person. (2)   Regulations under sub-paragraph (1) shall enable the Regulator to— (a)   impose conditions on a person’s authorisation; (b)   suspend a person’s authorisation; (c)   cancel a person’s authorisation.”” The noble Baroness said: My Lords, the amendment clarifies the arrangement for handling complaints, which I know that the noble Lord, Lord Goodhart, was particularly concerned about. Authorised persons will be required to have in place a procedure for handling consumer complaints. When a consumer feels that a complaint to an authorised person has not been resolved, they may refer the matter to the regulator. We envisage that there will be a separate division within the administrative structure to investigate and determine the complaint. It may be possible for the regulator to delegate some of its complaints handling functions, which would provide a flexible mechanism for dealing with an unpredictable number of complaints. As noble Lords know, delivering the functions in practice will ultimately depend on the determination we make of the regulator. If the complaint is upheld, the regulator will either issue a warning or take disciplinary action. A decision of the regulator to suspend or cancel a person’s authorisation would have the effect of determining a civil right and would be subject to Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. To ensure compliance with the convention, regulations will provide that such decisions will not come into effect for a period of 28 days, during which time authorised persons can appeal the decision to the tribunal, which we have already indicated will be set up and which we agreed under previous amendments. This will ensure that an authorised person has a fair hearing before an independent and impartial tribunal for the purposes of Article 6. However, when multiple or particularly serious allegations are involved, regulations will provide the regulator with the discretion to apply to refer disciplinary matters directly to the tribunal without himself reaching a decision. The regulator will have the power to seek an interim direction prohibiting the provision of claims management services pending a full hearing. This could be used when there was the potential for serious harm to consumers. The arrangements envisaged for handling complaints are an interim measure pending the creation of the proposed Office for Legal Complaints under the proposed reforms to the wider framework for the regulation of legal services. I am confident that the amendment clarifies the proposed approach. I hope that noble Lords agree. I beg to move.