London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Bill

I, for one, am extremely encouraged that we are all here. On Third Reading, I said that, although the Bill is not lengthy in parliamentary terms, it is, in fact, quite complex—setting up a de facto regional development agency in the Olympic delivery authority in its first half and establishing the ground rules of the marketing of the commercial media rights in the second. The Minister agreed about that then and looked at me, possibly a little ruefully, over the Dispatch Box. Indeed, subsequent events have proved that right. Given the fact that these are difficult and technical issues, I am delighted that they have been ironed out during the parliamentary process and that the Bill is back with us tonight. The time interval between winning the bid on 6 July and the first publication of the Bill on 14 July was extraordinarily short, even allowing for the fact that much of the preparatory work had obviously been done. Given the Bill’s technical nature, which I have already acknowledged, it is a very considerable achievement on behalf of all those responsible for drafting the Bill—LOCOG, the British Olympic Association and, of course, the Department for Culture, Media and Sport—that the list of amendments is so short. May I therefore genuinely ask the Minister—I mean this absolutely seriously—to pass on my thanks to all those who were involved? In the other place, my noble Friend Lord Glentoran said:"““If democracy in this country could run on the sorts of lines that we have debated in this particular Bill, this country would be a better place””.—[Official Report, House of Lords, 14 March 2006; Vol. 679, c. 1210.]" Fabulous, is it not? I wholly agree. The process of parliamentary scrutiny has genuinely made this a better Bill. I am told that the Sydney games needed four Bills, and I suspect that, as the games progress, a number of other issues will benefit from parliamentary scrutiny. I hope therefore that the Government will be encouraged by their experience with the Bill and that, as a result, they will involve Parliament closely, as the process develops. That is crucial to maintain the cross-party consensus that has characterised both the bid and the Bill. All four groups of amendments before us tonight were introduced as a result of concerns first raised in Committee and subsequently by our Front-Bench spokesman in the other place, and I should like to record my thanks to Lord Glentoran for the part that he played. Unsurprisingly, all four groups of amendments therefore enjoy my support. This the first group of amendments mandates the Secretary of State to consult the relevant industry bodies before regulations on advertising and street trading are drawn up. The Minister agreed to that principle in Committee, but it will now be given statutory force. Clearly, it is eminently sensible to involve the industry closely at every stage and for that requirement to have statutory force, and we all want consultation, rather than prescription, to characterise the delivery of the games. This group of amendments, therefore, has our full support.