THE COMMUNITY LEGAL SERVICE (Hansard, 22 June 1999)

§ Mr. Vaz
I beg to move amendment No. 87, in page 4, line 26, at end insert—

'(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.
996 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.