Equality Bill [Lords]

I thank my hon. Friend for informing me of that point. I support the Bill’s holistic approach in establishing an overarching commission that takes in the functions of the three independent commissions. However, perhaps because I am a northerner, or was a business woman, I am concerned about the finances. The new commission will cost £24 million to establish and a further £70 million a year to run. The hon. Member for Wallasey (Angela Eagle) said that the Opposition want to starve the commission of funds, but that is not the case. As a business woman, if one of my managers had come to me and said that they had a new process that would take in three existing processes, I would have expected a cost-saving justification for that. Given that taxpayers’ money is involved here, it is amazing that this will cost 43 per cent. more to run, and I have not yet seen the justification for that. We know that extra strands will be taken in, but there should also be economy of scale. I take on board the points made about human resources and various other functions within the costings, but it still does not make sense. If one overarching commission is to take on the responsibility of three, with a few additional strands, an additional 43 per cent. cost cannot be justified. I look forward to the Minister’s comments on that. I understand the extended scope, but it is hard to make sense of the figures that have been forward. A sensible approach would be for the Minister to look again at the costs and perhaps use that additional funding for additional strands, or put it towards the cost of the single equality Bill, about which the hon. Member for Wallasey also spoke. I shall try to be brief so that other hon. Members may speak. I want to draw attention to a parallel between the education White Paper and the Bill. Anyone who has studied the White Paper will, like me, be concerned about over-centralisation. However, the White Paper has the safety net of common sense, which is provided by the involvement of a host of professionals in its delivery, in conjunction with parents, teachers, children and governors. That will result in a natural erring towards common sense, and a natural moving away from bureaucracy. However, as my hon. Friend the Member for New Forest, West (Mr. Swayne) said, in the Bill much is centralised in the Minister. One hon. Member referred to the guest house, which may be Christian guest house, the people who might be staying there and the issues that arise from that. I want the Bill to work because it is needed and it needs credibility to do so, but when it is over-centralised, and when such issues arise, they will be given priority.