My Lords, up to her final couple of sentences, I was going to recommend that the Minister listen very closely to the advice from the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes. This group of amendments essentially carries on the theme of what is in and what is out, which is the existential theme of almost everything we are debating that is not a government amendment. In that respect again, it is a welcome set of amendments and I think, all joking aside, that the noble Baroness’s points are really important points for the Minister to clear up. I do not understand where we are on this and if the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, does not then it probably is not understandable.
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The noble Lord, Lord Lansley, spoke in favour of removing universities. Of course, universities will spend an awful lot more public money than ARIA ever will—if ARIA ever gets off the ground and spends any money. To some extent, perhaps the Government are looking at the right end of the telescope.
My understanding of legislation is that if a subsequent Bill legislates law that is different from a preceding Bill, the subsequent Bill wins, but the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes, may correct me on that.
The purpose of this probe is really to investigate. If one listens to the Minister and listens to some of the briefings we have had, there is potentially enormous benefit from this platform for purchasers of public services. If there is this benefit, deliberately excluding ARIA from potentially having it seems to me a bit stupid. I agree with the noble Baroness, Lady Noakes. If we are talking about procuring quantum physics services from someone, I do not imagine that this platform will be at all useful. But if it is buying utilities or basic services such as cleaning, that, it seems to me, is what this platform is there for. To deliberately exclude ARIA totally from it does not make a great deal of sense.
The other point that I would like to make is about the three areas excluded in the legislation in Clause 1(5)(a),
(b) and (c). Paragraph (a) concerns the “devolved Scottish authorities” and there is a Scottish Parliament which oversees that. Paragraph (b) is:
“the Security Service, the Secret Intelligence Service and the Government Communications Headquarters”.
All of those have scrutiny, albeit secret.
Then we have
“the Advanced Research and Invention Agency”
which essentially has no scrutiny at all. It has the Secretary of State, who may or may not choose to scrutinise it. Within those powers, ARIA can buy property for example. It can buy things—anything it likes, effectively—with essentially no public scrutiny. We are dealing with a Procurement Bill, and to deliberately put in place an organisation that can spend hundreds of millions of pounds—if, as I say, it ever manages to find a top team and get itself in order—with no scrutiny whatever is remiss. It would be remiss of your Lordships on this Committee not to consider this and it would be remiss of the Minister not to respond directly as to why there should not be some form of scrutiny. It could be the same sort of scrutiny that the Security Service enjoys or something different, but simply relying on the Secretary of State, as currently, is not good enough.