Charities Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 10: Page 77, line 41, leave out from ““appointment”” to end of line 42 and insert ““and retention of other staff must as regards remuneration be within the total remuneration budget agreed annually with the Treasury”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, I thank the Minister. The key to what he said was that the state of affairs both these amendments want to bring about—the independence of the Charity Commission with regard to terms and conditions of staff below commissioner and very senior level—is, at the moment, by grace and favour of a delegation made by the Minister. That delegation could be withdrawn at any time. The Minister may pucker his handsome face, but that will not do, because things change. Ministers change, policies changes, and the relationship between the Minister and the commission may get extremely raggedy in the future. The Minister made a serious point, with a degree of tentativeness, about what this would do to the status of the employees. I am sure I speak for the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, as well as myself in saying that, if that is the case, we would accept without demur an amendment at the final stage of this Bill that made it clear that the status of employees was unchanged by this amendment. That could easily be done. I beg to move.