The Bar Council has scored another victory in the House of Lords after peers yesterday (8 May) voted in favour of two further amendments to the Legal Services Bill.

In the second reading of the controversial Bill, peers backed a motion for the Office for Legal Complaints to delegate service and conducts complaints-handling to approved regulators such as the Bar Standards Board.

The vote comes amid fears, voiced by the Bar Council, that a 'one size fits all' complaints system could result from the Bill.

Peers also voted to overturn the 'polluter pays' policy requiring respondents to pay the costs of a complaint even if it subsequently proves to be groundless.

The two amendments come after peers last week voted in favour of an earlier amendment allowing the Bar Council to influence appointments to the Legal Services Board. That amendment paved the way for the Lord Chief Justice, Lord Phillips, to assist the Lord Chancellor, Lord Falconer, in making appointments to the regulatory board.

The Bill will now go through to its third reading before returning to the House of Commons, where the Government will decide whether or not to retain the amendments.