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'(8A) The Commission may charge--
(a) for accreditation,
(b) for monitoring the services provided by accredited persons and bodies, and
(c) for authorising accreditation by others;
and persons or bodies authorised to accredit may charge for accreditation, and for such monitoring, in accordance with the terms of their authorisation.'.
Mr. Deputy Speaker (Mr. Michael Lord): With this it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 88 to 90.
Mr. Vaz: The purpose of the amendments is to confer on the Legal Services Commission a power to charge for the accreditation and monitoring of providers of legal services and for authorising others to accredit and monitor providers of legal services. The amendments will also allow others who are authorised to accredit and monitor providers of legal services to charge for accreditation and monitoring, in accordance with terms set by the commission.
The Lord Chancellor will have power to require the commission to discharge its powers to charge for accreditation, monitoring and authorisation and to authorise others to charge in a prescribed manner. That would be by order, subject to negative resolution.
It is not intended that the commission will exercise its power to charge for accreditation and monitoring in respect of providers of legal services funded by the commission. Providers of services as part of the wider community legal service, funded by other bodies such as local authorities, may need to meet quality standards to secure their funding. In addition, those providing privately funded legal services may also wish to take advantage of the opportunity to obtain accreditation to demonstrate the quality of the services that they provide.
We believe that it would be wrong to expect the taxpayer to meet the costs of accrediting and monitoring those individuals and bodies who seek accreditation as a means of attracting private business. The power for the commission to charge for those services will ensure that the consumer will have the advantage of assurance of the quality of service without the taxpayer having to foot the bill. The commission will not seek to profit from that power, but simply to recover its costs of providing the service.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment made: No. 88, in page 4, line 28, leave out '(8)' and insert '(8A)'.--[Mr. Vaz.]
The Solicitor-General (Mr. Ross Cranston):
I beg to move amendment No. 12, in page 9, line 32, leave out
and insert
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
With this, it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 13 to 16 and 21.
The Solicitor-General:
This group of drafting amendments is consequential to an amendment made in Committee to what is now clause 11(1). Clause 11 deals with the award of costs between the parties in cases involving community legal service funding. It gives assisted persons broadly the same statutory protection against costs as exists now. Clause 11(1) was amended in Committee to provide for that protection to be disapplied in prescribed circumstances, to make it clear that it applied only when the assisted person was receiving funding, and generally to simplify the drafting of the subsection. The amendments are consequential on that simplification. Amendments Nos. 12 and 13 simply ensure the consistent use of tenses throughout the clause.
Amendments Nos. 14 and 15 rephrase and reposition clause 11(4)(c), which deals with the payment of costs by the Legal Services Commission to the opponent of an assisted person. At present, a court can order the Legal Aid Board to pay an opposing defendant's costs if he or
she would otherwise suffer severe financial hardship. Regulations that are contemplated under the Bill will broadly replicate that position although the Government hope to relax the test to plain financial hardship.
It is necessary to rephrase the paragraph to refer to the costs incurred by the opponent, rather than those ordered against the assisted person; otherwise, the costs that the commission could be ordered to pay would be limited by the protection enjoyed by the assisted person. That anomaly did not arise with the previous drafting of clause 11(1).
Amendments Nos. 16 and 21 are consequential on the repositioning of clause 11(4)(c). The latter ensures that regulations under that paragraph remain subject to the affirmative procedure.
Amendment agreed to.
Amendments made: No. 13, in page 9, line 36, leave out 'the services were funded,' and insert
No. 14, in page 9, leave out lines 40 and 41.
No. 15, in page 9, line 44, at end insert--
No. 16, in page 9, line 46, leave out 'such a party' and insert
Mr. Vaz:
I beg to move amendment No. 17, in page 13, line 7, at end insert--
Amendment No. 17 reflects an undertaking made by the Government in Committee in response to an amendment tabled by the hon. and learned Member for Harborough (Mr. Garnier) and others. He sought to add to the list of matters which must be included in the code of conduct for employees of the Legal Services Commission who provide criminal defence services. In response, my hon. Friend the Member for Ashfield
(Mr. Hoon), now the Minister of State, Foreign and Commonwealth Office, said that although it was not really necessary, he was content to introduce an amendment.
Amendment No. 17, therefore, requires the code specifically to include duties on employees providing criminal defence services who are members of a professional body--they might be barristers, solicitors or legal executives--to comply with the rules of that body.
The amendment shows that the Government are willing to put into statute sensible amendments such as the one tabled by the hon. and learned Member for Harborough, and I am most grateful to him for his suggestion on this issue.
Mr. Garnier:
I thank the Minister for delivering on the undertaking given by his predecessor.
Amendment agreed to.
The Solicitor-General:
I beg to move amendment No. 18, in page 16, line 17, leave out second 'of' and insert 'to'.
Mr. Deputy Speaker:
With this, it will be convenient to discuss Government amendments Nos. 19, 20, 22, 45 to 69 and 83.
The Solicitor-General:
This group of amendments clarifies the powers to prescribe the procedures for courts carrying out functions under part I of the Bill, particularly in relation to granting rights to representation in criminal cases. It also includes a number of consequential and drafting amendments. Let me explain.
Amendment No. 19 provides a general power to prescribe which member or officer of a court is able to exercise the functions of any court or tribunal under this part of the Bill. For example, it would enable regulations to prescribe the procedure for consideration of an application for a right to representation. In the case of the Crown court--assuming a right to representation has not been granted already by the magistrates court--the power might be exercised by a judge, though not necessarily the trial judge. For the sake of flexibility, however, it might be appropriate to provide, as now, for an authorised officer in the Crown court office to consider these applications.
Similarly for the magistrates court, amendment No. 53 gives the power to prescribe when a single justice or justices' clerk can make decisions about the right to representation. The first part of the amendment would enable the powers of the magistrates court to grant or withdraw a right to representation to be exercisable by a single justice. The general rule-making power in section 144 of the Magistrates' Courts Act 1980 can then be used to delegate this to justices' clerks and their assistants.
Amendment No. 20 provides the flexibility to prescribe different provisions for different areas, to accommodate, for example, pilot arrangements.
Streamlining the legislative provisions for delegation in that way will mean that there will be no further need for section 49(1)(j) of the Crime and Disorder Act 1998, which can be repealed when the relevant provisions of this Bill are in force. That is achieved by amendment No. 83.
Amendments Nos. 61, 66 and 67 clarify the appeal procedure against an order to repay defence costs under clause 17. This is to be by way of judicial review.
Clause 17 does not expressly provide for a route of appeal. Decisions of the Crown court that relate to a trial on indictment cannot be judicially reviewed or subject to appeal by way of case stated. This has been held to prevent any form of appeal against certain decisions about legal aid contribution orders. Decisions relating to a sentence may of course be appealed to the Court of Appeal, but recovery of defence costs orders should not be seen as part of a sentence. It is possible, for example, that regulations could prescribe for exceptional circumstances in which an order could be made before the end of the trial or following acquittal.
In order to avoid doubt about the status of an order under clause 17 and the relevant route of appeal, amendment No. 61 makes it clear that these orders are not part of the sentence and therefore not appealable to the Court of Appeal. Amendment No. 66 amends the Supreme Court Act 1981 to allow clause 17 orders to be challenged by way of judicial review or case stated. Amendment No. 67 is consequential on amendment No. 66.
Further consequential alterations are contained in amendment No. 69.
Amendments Nos. 49 and 52 are drafting amendments to make it clearer that a right to representation will usually continue through from the magistrates court to the Crown Court.
A right to representation includes a right to advice and assistance as to an appeal. As currently drafted, it is an open-ended entitlement. Amendment No. 22 would allow regulations to prescribe time limits for the provision of advice on appeal after which the right would lapse. Regulations on the scope of advice and assistance could be made under clause 13 to allow for cases where advice was needed at a later date.
Finally, amendments Nos. 18, 45 to 48, 50, 51, 54 to 60, 62 to 65 and 68 achieve drafting consistency by always referring to the right as a "right to representation".
Amendment agreed to.
Amendment made: No. 19, in page 16, line 30, at end insert--
Amendment made: No. 11, in page 4, line 43, at end insert--
'( ) The Lord Chancellor shall lay before each House of Parliament a copy of every determination under subsection (2)(a).'.--[Mr. Vaz.]
'cases in which services have been'
'relation to proceedings in which services are'.
'services are funded by the Commission as part of the Community Legal Service,'.
'(da) requiring the payment by the Commission of the whole or part of any costs incurred by a party for whom services are not funded by the Commission as part of the Community Legal Service,'.
'a party for whom services are so funded'.--[Mr. Vaz.]
Amendments made: No. 89, in page 10, line 38, at end insert--
'(4A) The Commission may charge--
(a) for accreditation,
(b) for monitoring the services provided by accredited persons and bodies, and
(c) for authorising accreditation by others;
and persons or bodies authorised to accredit may charge for accreditation, and for such monitoring, in accordance with the terms of their authorisation.'.
No. 90, in page 10, line 40, leave out 'subsection (4)' and insert 'subsections (4) and (4A)'.--[Mr. Vaz.]
'and duties on employees who are members of a professional body to comply with the rules of the body.'.
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