Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

I confirm what the noble Lord, Lord Carter, said. I declare an interest as a former chairman of the Countryside Agency. I was paid for three days a week—in fact I did four or five, sometimes six or seven. It seemed to me logical that if I was paid for three days a week, I should receive both a salary—it was some £45,000—and should receive a pension on that. Pensions did not apply to the ordinary board members because they were de minimis. The noble Baroness, Lady O’Cathain, argued that I might not want to take a stand and, therefore, lose my job because I feared I might lose my pension. Surely, my salary is far more important than my pension. So was the noble Baroness’s argument that I should not have been paid at all? I do not think that that follows. This clause applies only to the chairman, and possibly the deputy chairman, as the noble Lord, Lord Carter, said, if they happen to be working for a considerable number of days a week.