London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Bill

I certainly was not intending to imply that too little thought had gone into this—or that little thought had gone into it. Some of us may have reached different conclusions, or at least be left with different questions in our heads. Nor, for once, was I seeking to raise issues of accountability. A rather more practical and less high-flown level was in my head. I shall deal first with paragraphs 7 and 8 in the schedule relating to the directors of finance and transport. My point was not that there should not be such directors, but that it is for the ODA to address its structures and the individuals appointed. After all, there will be enough control by the Secretary of State and the Secretary of State has more than a hand in the appointment of the chair of the ODA. I cannot conceive that the Secretary of State would appoint a chair of the authority she did not trust to take sensible decisions about the structure. However, I have made that point. On the extent of the possible membership of the board of the authority—the amendment tabled by the noble Lord, Lord Brooke, to which I did not speak—the Minister is right that I could produce a whole list of other candidates, but I do not seek to do so. In discussing this, the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, or the Minister in response to him made the point about LOGOC being apolitical. The converse is, as LOGOC is apolitical, so the ODA is political. That is how it has been described. That raises some interesting issues, given that we are told it is to be an executive body. There are many issues around governance and the executive nature of these bodies, which I find perplexing. It might be clear when we see it in black and white on a page. I remain concerned that including this structure at the top, with LOGOC having to go up to the top formally to come down again to the ODA, is not necessarily the most sensible and productive. The structure that the Government are putting in place would result in the chairs of LOGOC and the ODA meeting on the fringes of the Olympic board to discuss matters which should go across. No line on the diagram links LOGOC and the ODA. You have to go right up the page and come down again to see where the links might be. It is not a matter of accountability; it is a matter of practicality. I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.