Greater London Authority Bill

My Lords, before the Minister sits down, will he comment, either now or in writing, on the fact that the rapid advance of technology may require very large contracts which are far bigger than any one borough? If that is so, the question is whether boroughs would be able easily to co-operate or whether some kind of integration policy on investment would be required to give confidence to those who provide technology solutions that they can deal with someone in a way that is not too fragmented. This is coming at us very rapidly indeed. Why is the Minister so confident that, three or four years from now, the analysis which has been made will remain the same? The very interesting remarks of the noble Lord, Lord Tope, could have been made at any time in the past 10 or 20 years. What has changed above all is the technology and the economics of advanced technology. That changes the context in which we are arguing. I therefore ask my noble friend to say, in a few words, that he accepts that this could make some difference.