London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Bill

I do not go so far as the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, or the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, in liking or approving all or most of these amendments, but I think that they both have a point in questioning how far the approval of the Secretary of State should be required. One may start with the proposition that the Secretary of State should give his approval to members of the committee—they might be significant committees—and that sounds reasonable. One may start with the proposition that the Secretary of State should have a final approval role with regard to remuneration. One is then asked to consider all the other possibilities—not just committees but, as the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, said at the end of her remarks, sub-committees—and not just remuneration but all kinds of allowances and the price of a railway ticket, and so one could go on. As the noble Baroness, Lady Hamwee, and the noble Lord, Lord Glentoran, have both said, it will not, in practice, as we all know, be the Secretary of State, but a departmental official who will be given the rather unrewarding and, I suggest, pointless task to second-guess the ODA on those matters. I ask the Minister to consider all the things that the noble Baroness has helpfully listed and see what are really necessary and what are not.