Housing and Regeneration Bill

I thank the noble Baroness for that and I am entirely sympathetic to the point. Under this paragraph, the Secretary of State is plunging into the game of committees to far too great an extent. I cannot understand why the agency cannot govern its own proceedings. Of course, there is some throwback to the 1993 Act, which states that, "““the Agency may regulate its own procedure (including quorum) and that of any committee””." But paragraph 5(2) of Schedule 17 of the 1993 Act states: "““The Secretary of State may give directions as to the exercise by the Agency of its power under sub-paragraph (1) to regulate procedure””," which is strengthened in paragraphs 6 and 7 of Schedule 1 to the Bill. Has the Secretary of State ever given directions on how the board should proceed? Where are they recorded? No doubt, they would be in the accounts of the year concerned and not repeated every year. It would be interesting to see them. I do not understand how a non-departmental public body can be expected to be independent and strong if it does not even regulate its own procedure. That is a contradiction in terms. People are appointed to be members of a board. There is a code of practice and guidelines, and you would expect it, led by its chairman, to regulate itself satisfactorily. The same thing is stated in paragraph 7: "““The HCA may, subject to any directions … decide … its own procedure and … the procedure of any of its committees or sub-committees””," which is a sweep up on top of all the other conditions put onto them. What sort of direction might the Secretary of State wish to issue to the HCA on its procedure?