Thousands of clients of SSB Law, PM Law et cetera have been left out of pocket in recent months after firms went bust with their regulators standing by, seemingly impotent. So one might expect a modicum of interest from parliamentarians in holding to account the suits who are supposed to keep law firms on the straight and narrow.
But the majority of the Commons justice committee clearly had better things to do on Tuesday afternoon than interrogate leaders of the Legal Services Board and Solicitors Regulation Authority. Just four MPs bothered to show up – plus chair Andy Slaughter – and one left halfway through. Poor show.
The extent of the committee’s interest was evident from the off, when LSB chair Monisha Shah had to point out that her name badge wrongly called her ‘Dr’. Shah was not troubled anyway, leaving chief executive Richard Orpin to face the music.
Orpin had that irritating habit of thanking the MPs for their questions, no matter how hostile. It is a well-established technique for uselessly disposing of the committee’s time. But Conservative member Sir Ashley Fox brushed aside the pleasantries to declare the LSB itself a waste of time.
‘Do you actually add anything to this?’ he asked. Orpin gamely pointed out that the LSB holds regulators to account and takes enforcement action when required. ‘What do you add?’ batted back Fox. Orpin waffled about scrutinising frontline regulators and making statements of policy.
‘That is nothing the Ministry [of Justice] couldn’t do,’ replied Fox, unassuaged. The super-regulator, he suggested, could be replaced by the MoJ keeping a general eye on things.
Slaughter joined in the mauling, saying the current regulatory system was ‘so complicated that nobody dares to try to unravel it’. The assessments of the LSB were so bad that ‘if these were Tripadviser reviews they would be one-star’. Arf!
‘I am working on the basis there will be a Legal Services Board going forward,’ muttered Orpin, bleakly. Obiter wonders when we would start to notice if there were not.
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