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<p> </p><p>My hon. Friend raises a serious matter. In July 2013, Mr Benjamin Mire
resigned from his (part-time) judicial post on the Southern Residential Property Tribunal
following a conduct investigation by the Ministry of Justice, but prior to the conclusion
of the formal disciplinary process.</p><p>Mr Mire is Chief Executive of Trust Property
Management, a firm of chartered surveyors and managing agents. The issue raised is
whether this company should continue to be advertised on LEASE's (the Leasehold Advisory
Service) practitioners' list.</p><p>The practitioner list is not meant to be a fully
comprehensive list, nor does inclusion constitute a recommendation by LEASE. Firms
pay a fee to be entered on the list and sign a contract accordingly.</p><p>In considering
a recent complaint on this issue, LEASE undertook a careful review of their terms
and conditions in relation to inclusion in their professional directory. This has
resulted in amendments being made, and revised terms and conditions have been published
on their website.</p><p>The revised terms and conditions give LEASE the right to temporarily
remove an organisation's directory information from the directory if a complaint is
received from a third party relating to the organisation or its listing. They also
give LEASE the right to terminate the contract with immediate effect by giving written
notice if a number of conditions are not met, these include:-</p><p><em>“The inclusion
of the organisation's directory information on the directory conflicts with LEASE
Conferences Ltd or the Leasehold Advisory Service's purposes, objectives or obligations
or brings LEASE into disrepute or there is a risk (in our reasonable opinion) of any
such conflict or bringing into disrepute.”</em></p><p>If Trust Property Management
does not meet the new terms and conditions when their contract for inclusion in the
directory is due for renewal in July, then they will be removed, as will any other
organisation which similarly does not meet the revised terms and conditions.</p><p>Whilst
I appreciate that this may not be as quick a step as my hon. Friend would wish, moving
forward, I hope these actions taken will in due course ensure the continued integrity
of the practitioners' list. I would be happy to meet my hon. Friend if he wishes to
discuss this further.</p><p> </p>
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