Equality Bill [HL]

The noble Baroness, Lady Carnegie of Lour, has pre-empted me. I was going to begin my remarks today by telling her that I am well aware that the amendments were put down in good faith. We moved more rapidly than I had anticipated, although it did not feel rapid at the time. I had planned to respond to the amendments tabled by the noble Baroness in writing, with a view to addressing her concerns, with copies to Members of the Committee. Indeed, her analysis is correct. I hope that that will at least give the noble Baroness a basis on which to decide whether to pursue the matter on Report. I would not want the noble Baroness to think that I had not thought of that. The need to ensure that there is confidence in this body is something on which we are all agreed—confidence, not only, as the noble Baroness, Lady Greengross, said, of those who put the commission together but, far more importantly, of the nation itself and those who have a particular stake in its work. I do not disagree with what the noble Lord, Lord   Lester of Herne Hill, is seeking to do. It just does not work. Our difficulty is that the amendment is too broad to be really meaningful. In fact, the noble Lord himself alluded to the fact that it would perhaps not be easy to interpret. I am not quite sure when we would reach the point when a Minister had behaved improperly, based on the definition here. Neither do we think we can link it to the Constitutional Reform Act 2005. It is a completely different question, although I can see where the noble Lord got that from. I say again that we are keen to continue to discuss the issues. I was mindful of the noble Lord saying that, if we find a way though this, perhaps we will not need the machinery discussed in our earlier debates. I am keen to reassure noble Lords about the independence of the commission, bearing in mind, as I said in Committee the other day, that it is important for the commission to operate in a way that commands respect and authority, and is transparent and understood. That is what led us to the NDPB model, because it is well understood both in terms of how it operates and how the people involved are appointed. So I say to the noble Lord that I am not against this proposal in principle. We need to think about how on earth we could make it work. I have to resist the amendment on the basis that it does not work as it stands; but we shall continue the dialogue. I hope the noble Lord will withdraw his amendment.