Constitutional Reform and Governance Bill

The arrangements for members of staff will be a matter for the Parliamentary Standards Authority. I cannot anticipate what it will say. Meanwhile, one of the good things that has happened in recent years is that scales are now laid down. Members of staff must have contracts of employment and so on. That is a dramatic change from the ramshackle arrangements that existed years ago, when MPs themselves had to run the PAYE schemes, as those of us of a certain antiquity will remember. I am very grateful to the hon. Member for Moray (Angus Robertson) for the constructive approach that he has yet again taken, and for the consistent support that we have received from him. The hon. Member for Worthing, West queried the term "compliance officer". It is not an elegant term, but I beg the Committee not to change it again. We could have used "independent regulator," but the Kelly report calls IPSA the independent regulator. We could have used "commissioner," which I would have preferred, but we have a Commissioner here. The term "compliance officer" may be prosaic, but at least it tells everyone what the person will do. The hon. Gentleman made some strong points about whether we should move from a final salary scheme to an average salary scheme. I understand that. It will be for the PSA and the SSRB to recommend. I understand the point that the hon. Gentleman went on to make, that part of the pay should be non-pensionable and non-taxable. Personally, I do not agree with either proposition. If small businesses, which is essentially what we are for these purposes, want to offset an item such as batteries against their tax, they have to keep receipts. [Interruption.] If the hon. Member for Broxbourne is saying, "No, they don't," I would be pleased to hear from him.