Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

My Lords, paragraph 6 of Schedule 1 makes provision for the tenure of board membership, and paragraph 6(2) limits board members to terms of no more than five years; paragraph 6(5) limits board members to a total period of appointment of no more than 10 years. The noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, returns to a theme discussed in Committee, and I am sorry that, on this occasion, I will not be able to agree with him. As my noble friend has just said, these are maximum periods for a term and for the total period of appointment respectively. It should be noted that within the Bill it is quite possible to appoint a board member for a term of only three years. The noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, has already mentioned what my noble friend Lord Borrie said in Committee—that, unlike board members in the world of business and commerce, the LBRO’s board will be taking on part-time posts and it will take them some time to learn the ropes. We take the same view. While of course there are arguments for and against limiting the terms of the LBRO’s board members to three years, on balance we believe that it is preferable to include flexibility in the Bill and to allow for the possibility of a five-year term for a board member. That addresses the point made by my noble friend on the previous occasion, and now on Report. That is the Government’s view and I hope that the noble Lord—although I am sure he is not persuaded—will not press his amendments.