It is not that I am not prepared to write—I am always prepared to write and to get engaged in dialogue—but there a number of things are happening on the intellectual property front at the moment. I have been made recently the Government Minister responsible for it and I am holding an up-and-down review of the Intellectual Property Office as we speak. I can tell the noble Lord that a number of changes will be made, which I do not want to enunciate now. However, during the progress of the Bill I will be able to help in that regard. I am also sitting on a document about modernising copyright with a modern, robust and flexible framework. It will be my bedside reading today and tomorrow, and Government Ministers will know what a joy that is. It is big enough to fill the Red Box on its own. So, if the noble Lords, Lord Clement-Jones and Lord Grade, and the noble Baroness, Lady Buscombe, will allow me, I will deal with this in Committee. During the process I will be happy to engage in one-to-one conversations with them as it happens.
I have enjoyed greatly working in the past with the noble Lord, Lord Whitty. I am not sure I am going to enjoy the “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly”, although it is quite a good film. So far the noble Lord has always fitted in the good category as far as I am concerned and I hope he is not moving into the bad or ugly bit. I am sure he will not.
I congratulate the noble Lord, Lord Currie of Marylebone, on his important new role and on his excellent speech, which set out, in a way that I could not possible have done, the excellent work that the CMA will do. As my noble friend Lord Eccles said, it is one thing to have an inspiration to merge things but, in practical terms, it is a big task to achieve to achieve it. However, in my view, it could fall to no greater man.
The noble Lord, Lord Clinton-Davis, will be a challenge because there are many things that he does not agree with.
A number of noble Lords referred to the report by the noble Lord, Lord Young of Graffham, Common Sense. Common Safety, and the report by Professor
Löfstedt, Reclaiming Health and Safety for All. We are taking on board many of the matters they have written about and produced evidence for. A great deal emerges from that and no doubt we will debate these issues more aggressively in the coming months.
The noble Baroness, Lady Dean of Thornton-le-Fylde, asked a number of important questions, but perhaps I may respond to only one of them in the time that I have available. She said that the change to the public interest test on whistle-blowing will make employees think twice about whether they should blow the whistle. We disagree with that. Where the employee has a reasonable belief that disclosure is in the public interest they will be protected. It is not a difficult evidential hurdle to satisfy. I hope that that deals with some of the points, but obviously a number have been raised.
I am grateful for the support of my noble friend Lord Teverson on the Green Investment Bank. The noble Lord, Lord MacKenzie of Culkein, quite rightly said that whistleblowing takes courage. It most certainly does, and none of what we are trying to do here seeks to prevent it. We are trying to allow people to have the courage to do it, and I think that his were wise and bold words which we agree with. The noble Lord, Lord Touhig, talked about the public interest test. It is absolutely fundamental that we get this right in the debate.
I have only two minutes to speak so I shall be very quick. The noble Lord, Lord McKenzie of Luton, shares a commonality of theme with the noble Lord, Lord Ouseley. I have referred to some of the points made by the noble Lord, Lord Mitchell, in what I thought was an excellent and balanced speech. The noble Lord, Lord Morris of Handsworth, has clearly shown a long-term interest in the rights of workers, and as I said earlier, this is all part of trying to have the rights of workers protected. I am grateful to my noble friend Lord Sheikh for mentioning sunset clauses. I am also grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Monks and my noble friend Lady Brinton for their comments
about ACAS resources. It is absolutely fundamental that ACAS is properly resourced and there is a Government commitment that it will be. It is a fine service and I am glad that everyone thinks so. We will do all we can to make sure that that happens. Questions were put about Heseltine, but the Government’s response will not be ready until a bit later so I will not deal with it now. The noble Baroness, Lady Turner of Camden, again feels strongly about certain employment issues, and I look forward to her debate. I am also grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Mawson, for his view on the Green Investment Bank.
There were a number of questions about the Equality and Human Rights Commission. It is absolutely fundamental that it should retain its A-grade status and the Government are committed to that. However, it is quite difficult when an organisation does not fulfil its audit commitments and does not manage its finances as well as it should. The commission is in the position it is not as a result of government interference, but through the organisation itself. I think that under the leadership of the noble Baroness, Lady O’Neill, it will be in a very good place.
I thank all noble Lords for their contributions. This House is marvellous at revising and improving things. I know that because I have already taken a Bill through it. In the past it has been a pleasure to co-operate with noble Lords. I hope that I am thought of as a reasonable man to create a dialogue with. I am prepared to listen and we are prepared to have discussions as this complicated and complex Bill with its wide-ranging bandwidth goes through the Lords. I am looking forward to the Committee stage. I respect the views of everyone in this Chamber, as is only right. My door will always be open, as will that of my officials, to listen and provide as much information as possible.