Compensation Bill [Lords]

We need to discuss that balance. I understand the hon. Gentleman’s point. Looking at this from the point of view of the consumers of the service, if they have been conned, they have been conned; it does not matter whether they are the company’s only victim or not. This matter would depend on whether the definition involved the value of the service offered or the cost of the service, as they might be different. If the cost of the service were only 10 quid, there could be quite a lot of 10 quids, which would soon add up. I hope that the Minister will address this issue. The other amendment to which I have added my name is amendment No. 5, which has also been tabled by the hon. Member for North-East Hertfordshire. This is a linked amendment, which the hon. Gentleman addressed in passing in his introductory speech. It proposes that:"““A code of practice issued under subsection (1) shall include details of the advertising standards for providers of claims management services.””" One of the concerns that has been aired in the debate is the need for clear regulation of the advertising involved, whether it is advertising on hoardings or in the local paper, or the kind that comes through the letterbox or is given away outside shopping centres or railway stations to try to get people to buy the services on offer. I hope that the Minister will give us an assurance that our proposal will be accepted. May I make a formal request, Mr. Deputy Speaker, that, if—as I hope and expect—the Government are willing to accept amendments Nos. 15 and 16, we might have a chance to vote on them before Third Reading at 9 o’clock? I want to flag up that request now, if I may. Those amendments come from amendments that I tabled in Committee, on which the Minister said that she would reflect, and they involve a simple proposal. Clause 5 sets out the procedures for providing exemptions, and, at the moment, they allow only for the use of the negative resolution procedure in the House. So the Government could lay regulations, and only if we prayed against them would there be the opportunity for a debate and a vote on them. The procedures governing exemptions are controversial, in this House and elsewhere, and they are important in that they could be used to exempt trade unions, either generally or in part, or any other group of organisations. For that reason, I proposed in Committee that there must be an automatic debate in both Houses of Parliament on any proposed exemptions. That would be the time to discuss whether trade unions should be included or excluded. We have had a long discussion on that issue tonight, to which the hon. Member for Bassetlaw has contributed at some length, as well as other hon. Members. The history has not been a glorious one, and the wise thing for us to do now would be to ensure that we had to return to the issue. If the Government were to go ahead with their proposal to exempt trade unions as claims management organisations as regulated by the Bill—the opposite of what the hon. Member for Hendon (Mr. Dismore) is proposing—the House should be able to debate and vote on the matter.