Coroners and Justice Bill

My Lords, I thank the noble Lords who have spoken in this debate, all with a great degree of expertise, perhaps none more so than the noble Lord, Lord Hunt of Wirral, whose chairmanship I served under when we looked at the draft Legal Services Bill. I know that his recent report for the Law Society has been very widely welcomed, both by the society and others interested in that field. It is because I disagree with him so strongly that I have to praise him most strongly at the start of what I have to say. The noble Lord asked whether it is in the public interest to legislate now. The answer is an emphatic yes from the Government. If I look for reasons, I rely to some extent on the speech of the noble Lord, Lord Lester, and the kind of cases that he has referred to today. In that sense, it cannot wait in this limited field of employment law, where there clearly has been abuse. Extremely unusually for the solicitor’s profession, I am afraid that recent research concluded: ""Many solicitors failed in their professional obligation to inform and advise claimants of alternative methods of funding"." I am sure that the Law Society and its many thousands of members will want to put that right at the earliest opportunity. On the question of public interest, we are adamant that we need to legislate, and legislate quickly. I take the point that this is the first time that this has been properly debated in this House. We withdrew in Committee because the Delegated Powers Committee made some powerful points to us, which we of course took on board in the normal way. On Report I had a Hobson’s choice. There were concerns from the noble and learned Lord, Lord Woolf, and others about this matter. We thought it best to take it away and try to narrow the scope of these clauses to satisfy him. I had the opportunity of speaking to the noble and learned Lord only yesterday. That is what we have done. It is not entirely satisfactory; I agree with the noble Lord about that. We will draw up regulations in the light of our consultation and take note of any points raised today. We will consult with all the key stakeholders over the details of our regulations. A consultation will begin shortly after the Bill gains Royal Assent. I remind the House that I have said it is envisaged that the first regulations could include, among other things, a requirement for representatives to provide claimants with clear and transparent information on all likely costs and expenses and on other sources of funding to which they may be entitled and which may allow them to keep all of their damages. However, I say to the noble Lord that I have not seen the draft regulations. By passing this legislation we are establishing a more level playing field in this area. CFAs are regulated statutorily; damages-based agreements are not. We think it is right that they should be on the same level. Why cannot this await the Jackson report? As the House will know, Sir Rupert published a preliminary report in May this year, which recognised that the unregulated use of damages-based agreements at employment tribunals, where they are most commonly used, is open to abuse. That is supported by the findings of research. Sir Rupert is considering the use of these agreements as a method of funding litigation before the courts and we await with interest any recommendations his report might include on this issue. In the meantime, we believe that the absence of specific statutory regulation of damages-based agreements in employment matters poses a real risk to vulnerable claimants. Therefore, there is a strong case for proceeding quickly to regulate this class of agreement in proceedings before employment tribunals. That is why we have brought forward these amendments today. Amendment 18 agreed. Clause 154 : Relevant offences Amendment 19 Clause 154 : Relevant offences Amendment 19 Moved by