Charities Bill [HL]

My Lords, Amendment No. 10 is grouped with the amendment just moved with irresistibility by the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson. We are in a real ““Yes, Minister”” situation—one of something approaching gobbledegook. I may be a lawyer, but I really do jib at a Minister of the Crown saying, during the last consideration of this,"““Paragraph 5 . . . (3) of Schedule 1 does not mean that the Minister for the Civil Service or officials at the Cabinet Office acting on his behalf have to approve the detailed terms and conditions of service of either the chief executive or Charity Commission staff in general””.—[Official Report, 28/6/05; col. 174.]" Paragraph 5(3) says that:"““The appointment of other staff””—" that is to say, staff other than the chief executive—"““requires the approval of that Minister as to their terms and conditions of service””." I would not for a second accuse the Minister of seeking to mislead the House, but he inadvertently misled the House. If his answer is, ““Don’t worry, old chap. We don’t actually look at the terms and conditions of service of other members of staff””, that is not good enough. My amendment, which the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, called a little silkier, seeks to be a little more accommodating by stating that the appointment,"““and retention of other staff must as regards remuneration be within the total remuneration budget agreed annually with the Treasury””." I lifted that from what the Minister said when we discussed this on 28 June.