Natural Environment and Rural Communities Bill

I could not possibly follow the noble Lord, Lord Brooke of Sutton Mandeville, down the road of the griefs and internal problems involved in promotions to government office in the period prior to 1997. That would be most unwise of me. These amendments are designed to reduce some of the Secretary of State’s powers in relation to the appointment of the CRC chairman and board. They do not take account of what we intend the CRC board to achieve and how we can best appoint the right people to the board to make a success of the CRC and properly address the needs of rural communities. On Amendment No. 226, for the CRC to be effective it will require a strong strategic steer. Therefore, it is essential that the board chairman has the necessary leadership skills to provide such a steer—as mentioned by the noble Lord, Lord Cameron—in addition to the experience and expertise that all the board members will contribute. The appointment of the chairman needs to be made using different criteria from those used for board appointments, so it would not be appropriate to elect a chairman from among the board members. On Amendments Nos. 231 and 230, spoken to by the noble Baroness, Lady Miller of Chilthorne Domer, and the noble Duke, the Duke of Montrose, together with the chairman the board of the CRC should be appointed by the Secretary of State to ensure that between them they have the skills required to direct the commission in fulfilling its functions. That point was made by the right reverend Prelate the Bishop of Exeter. On Amendment No. 230, surely the Secretary of State will need to consult the chairman about board appointments to help to ensure a fit between candidates’ expertise and personal skills and those required by the CRC. The example given by the noble Lord, Lord Cameron, bore out that need. The Secretary of State is required to follow the OCPA code of practice, so she will need to have regard to the criteria necessary to select people who will enable the board to function effectively. Amendment No. 231A, spoken to by the noble Lord, Lord Renton of Mount Harry, touches on very similar themes. I make it absolutely clear that all appointments to all bodies covered by the Bill will be made according to the code of practice of the Commissioner for Public Appointments; the appointment of someone who happens to have local authority experience and fits the other criteria needed will not in any way be precluded by the process that is to be followed—that is important. The effect of this amendment would be that experience of the rural affairs of local authorities would become the only specified criterion for board member selection included in the Bill, beyond the general wording already included. If we were to include such a restrictive addition, we would need to consider adding similar criteria covering all the CRC’s many other stakeholders to ensure that their interests were similarly represented on the CRC’s board.