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Schedule 16 [The Law Society, solicitors, recognised bodies and foreign lawyers]:

Baroness Ashton of Upholland moved Amendments Nos. 20 to 24:

(a) to provide information, or information of a description, specified in the notice, or(b) produce documents, or documents of a description, specified in the notice.(a) a solicitor;(b) an employee of a solicitor;(c) a recognised body;(d) an employee or manager of, or a person with an interest in shares in, a recognised body.(a) whether there has been professional misconduct by a solicitor;(b) whether a solicitor has failed to comply with any requirements imposed by or by virtue of this Act or any rules made by the Society;(c) whether a recognised body, or any of its managers or employees has failed to comply with any requirement imposed by or by virtue of the Administration of Justice Act 1985 or any rules made by the Society and applicable to the body, manager or employee by virtue of section 9 of that Act;(d) whether there are grounds for making, or making an application to the Tribunal for it to make, an order under section 43(2) with respect to a person who is or was involved in a legal practice (within the meaning of section 43(1A)).(a) may specify the time and place at which, and manner and form in which, the information is to be provided or document is to be produced;(b) must specify the period within which the information is to be provided or the document produced;(c) may require the information to be provided or document to be produced to the Society or to a person specified in the notice.(a) in sub-paragraph (3) for “such documents” there were substituted “information to which a notice given to him under section 44B applies”,(b) in that sub-paragraph for “sub-paragraph (1)” there were substituted “the notice”, and(c) in sub-paragraph (4) for “produce” (in the first place) to the end there were substituted “provide information pursuant to a notice under section 44B to provide the information to any person appointed by the Society at such time and place as may be specified in the order.”(a) any reference in paragraph 9 of that Schedule to a person appointed, or to a requirement, under sub-paragraph (1) of that paragraph is to be construed as a reference to a person appointed, or to a requirement to produce documents, under this section,(b) any reference in that paragraph to any such documents as are mentioned in paragraph 9(1) of that Schedule is to be construed as a reference to any documents to which a notice under this section applies,(c) the reference to the solicitor or his firm in paragraph 9(5) of that Schedule, and the reference to the solicitor or personal representative in paragraph 9(7) of that Schedule, are to be construed as references to the person to whom the notice was given under this section, and(d) the reference in paragraph 9(12) of that Schedule to the Society is to be construed as including a reference to a person specified under subsection (4)(c).and the reference to a person who has an interest in shares in a recognised body is to be construed in accordance with sections 72 and 109 of the Legal Services Act 2007.(a) in sub-paragraph (3) for “having” to “sub-paragraph (1)” there were substituted “refuses, neglects or otherwise fails to comply with a requirement under section 44BA(1)”, and(b) in sub-paragraph (4) for “produce” (in the first place) to the end there were substituted “provide an explanation of any information provided or document produced pursuant to a notice under section 44B (or a representative of such a person) to attend at a time and place specified in the order to provide an explanation of any information so provided or document so produced.” (a) to provide information, or information of a description, specified in the notice, or(b) to produce documents, or documents of a description, specified in the notice.(a) that it is likely that the information or document is in the possession or custody of, or under the control of, the person, and(b) that there is reasonable cause to believe that the information or document is likely to be of material significance to an investigation into any of the matters mentioned in section 44B(3)(a) to (d).(a) the reference to the solicitor or personal representative in paragraph 9(7) of that Schedule is to be construed as a reference to the person in respect of whom the order under this section is made, and(b) the reference in paragraph 9(12) of that Schedule to the Society is to be read as including a reference to a person specified under section 44B(4)(c) (as applied by subsection (4) of this section).(a) to falsify, conceal, destroy or otherwise dispose of a document which the person knows or suspects is or would be relevant to the investigation, or(b) to cause or permit the falsification, concealment, destruction or disposal of such a document.(a) to provide information which the person knows to be false or misleading in a material particular, or(b) recklessly to provide information which is false or misleading in a material particular.(a) on summary conviction, to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or a fine not exceeding the statutory maximum, or both;(b) on conviction on indictment, to imprisonment for term not exceeding 2 years or a fine, or both.Information about suitability for recognition(a) to provide information, or information of a description, specified in the notice, or(b) to produce documents, or documents of a description, specified in the notice.(a) the recognised body;(b) an employee or manager of the recognised body;(c) a person who has an interest in shares in the recognised body (within the meaning of the Legal Services Act 2007 (see sections 72 and 109 of that Act)).(a) in relation to a notice under this paragraph as if it were a notice under section 44B of that Act, and(b) in relation to a person given a notice under this paragraph as if that person were a person given a notice under that section,and references in subsections (6) and (7) of that section to powers conferred by that section are to be read as references to powers conferred by this paragraph.“( ) after sub-paragraph (3)(b) insert—“(ba) the Society has reason to suspect dishonesty on the part of the registered foreign lawyer (“L”) in connection with—(i) the business of any person of whom L is or was an employee, or of any body of which L is or was a manager, or(ii) any business which is or was carried on by L as a sole trader;”,”

On Question, amendments agreed to.

Schedule 22 [Transitional provision]:

Baroness Ashton of Upholland moved Amendments Nos. 25 to 27:

(a) begins with the day on which section 44B of the Solicitors Act 1974 (as substituted by Schedule 16) comes into force, and(b) ends with the day appointed for the coming into force of section 13.”“( ) a person who, by virtue of paragraph 13 of Schedule 5, is an exempt person in relation to the carrying on of an activity which is a notarial activity,”“( ) a person who, by virtue of paragraph 17A of Schedule 5, is an exempt person in relation to the carrying on of an activity which is a reserved legal activity within sub-paragraph (2) of that paragraph.”

On Question, amendments agreed to.

Schedule 23 [Repeals]:

Baroness Ashton of Upholland moved Amendments Nos. 28 to 31:

“Section 2.”

On Question, amendments agreed to.

An amendment (privilege) made.

Baroness Ashton of Upholland: My Lords, I beg to move that this Bill do now pass.

Moved accordingly, and, on Question, Bill passed, and sent to the Commons.

Digital Switchover (Disclosure of Information) Bill

4.50 pm

Report received.

Clause 1 [Disclosure of information]:

Lord Howard of Rising moved Amendment No. 1:

The noble Lord said: My Lords, first, I thank the Minister for ensuring that we did not convene for Report until the Digital Switchover Help Scheme had been published. It has been most helpful to have sight of the scheme.

Amendment No. 1 was tabled in Grand Committee and taken away in order to give the Minister further time to reflect on the problem of ensuring that the digital switchover help scheme is available to those who live in multiple dwellings—blocks of flats, old people’s homes and so on. Paragraph 4 of the scheme gives the administrator considerable flexibility in the treatment of multiple dwellings—rightly so, in my view. After all, the appropriate method of dealing with one eligible person in a block of 100 flats may be quite different from the way that one would deal with an old people’s home with eight residents, all of whom were eligible for assistance.

It would be helpful if the Minister could elaborate a little on how he sees the administrator using his powers. For example, in view of the difficulties that may be encountered with a set-top aerial of the type described in sub-paragraphs 2(6) and (7) of Schedule 3 of the scheme, can the Minister inform the House of the types of assistance that an administrator would be able to provide via a notification under paragraph (2)(b) of Clause 17 of the scheme? As already suggested, it would be of great assistance to the House to have an indication of how far the administrator would be able to go in order to help this category of eligible person. I beg to move.

Lord Davies of Oldham: My Lords, I am grateful to the noble Lord for moving his amendment and for referring to the fact that we have delayed this Report stage until publication of, and agreement over, the scheme. I am sure that that will assist the House in considering the Bill.

Of course, the noble Lord has already had one attempt at this amendment. He raised it in Grand Committee as a probing amendment to elicit what help would be given to people who accessed television through a communal TV system. During that debate, he referred to the fact that the Bill makes no provision for people in flats or other types of dwelling that may be affected by a failure to upgrade communal TV systems. It will be recognised that the Bill deals entirely with access to DWP and other data necessary for the smooth and efficient administration of the digital switchover help scheme. Therefore, it is not surprising that there is no mention of the issue that the noble Lord raises.

The noble Lord raised several points, to which I should like to respond. I should like to set out in more detail the challenges of ensuring that communal TV systems are upgraded and the implications of no action being taken. Communal TV aerial systems have been with us since the 1960s and were originally installed to overcome difficulties with individual reception; for example, where a dwelling had no access to the roof for an outside aerial or a poor line of sight to the transmitter.

There is no statutory requirement for landlords to provide access to communal TV systems. There may well be obligations under a lease, tenancy agreement or contract for the upkeep of the system. But, like other communal services, such as lifts, roofs, and so on, the costs of maintenance will normally be covered by rent and service charges, so will be allowable for housing benefit. Changes to housing benefit regulations from 1 April clarified the position, making it clear that housing benefit covers all types of communal TV system upgrades where system costs can be separated from subscription charges.

We estimate that as many as 4 million homes may have access to a communal TV system—the majority of properties served, of course, are flats. Communal TV systems are mainly found in medium and large-scale blocks of purpose-built flats. It will be no surprise to the House that almost half of London's households are flats, maisonettes or apartments. Of these, a third comprises purpose-built flats and 14 per cent are part of a converted or shared house. Of the 20 districts with the highest proportion of flats, maisonettes or apartments, 18 are in London. Around 40 per cent of private sector flats, excluding leasehold properties, are also in London.

The majority of communal systems in the UK were originally installed to work with analogue and were designed to carry only four or five televisions. They will need some attention if they are to convey the full range of digital services after switchover. In March 2006, the Digital Television Group—the industry standards body for digital TV—carried out work for the DTI to look in detail at the types of problems that uninspected systems might encounter. The report by the group found that the main problem was likely to be the poor performance of many analogue systems in handling digital signals, with insufficient signal passed through the system to ensure a reliable service.

The Digital Television Group report found that at switchover, some existing systems may provide access to limited digital services while others may perform adequately because of the increase in power levels and within the aerial group transmissions. But the age and condition of existing systems is an important factor in determining how well uninspected systems perform post-switchover. It is important to bear in mind that industry guidance recommends that system components are replaced every 10 years.

The Government’s approach since 2005 has been to ensure that there is a strong and effective evidence base and to ensure that all landlords—both social and private sector landlords—and residents are aware of the issue and take action to upgrade communal TV systems where appropriate. In January 2007, my department published research carried out by the British Market Research Bureau into actions taken by social landlords, local authorities, ALMOs and housing associations. The research found that 32 per cent of social landlords were in the process of completing the upgrade of all affected properties, although a further 18 per cent had made a significant start and were well on their way to completing by switchover. Around half reported little progress.

If we look at national trends in individual households, more than 77 per cent of households have converted at least one TV set to digital, and take-up is still growing strongly. Recent data from the Digital UK/Ofcom tracker survey, which interviews around 2,000 households each quarter, show that take-up of digital TV for people living in flats is more or less in line with the general population at around 75 per cent. There are a number of factors involved, but the differences between the two surveys are most likely to be due to an increasing number of residents making their own arrangements for receiving digital TV—for example by satellite—or residents using communal TV systems that have not been checked and which convey some digital services.

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