Commons Bill [HL]

I was intrigued by a number of points the Minister made in response to my Amendment No. 7. I thank my noble friends Lord Tyler and Lord Greaves for their support. The points raised by my noble friend Lord Greaves in relation to Amendment No. 121 are of considerable significance and I was pleased to hear the Minister say that he would look at them. We are concerned about the Minister’s proposed alternative; that is, a pool of inspectors, a panel of persons, who may have legal expertise. How will that operate and how will such people be selected? Will they be truly independent of the process, as the present commissioners are? They were appointed for life, but I agree with the Minister that that provision would no longer appear in legislation—their tenure would be time-limited. Perhaps the Minister will look at the possibility of a time limit of three years under his proposal. It may be desirable to have continued knowledge of what is happening over a period of time. I would like to see a new clause from the Minister to lay out in detail the proposals that he mentioned to enable us to compare them with the functions of the commons commissioners, although some of that is laid out in the Bill. With that, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. On Question, Whether Clause 5 shall stand part of the Bill?