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Equality Bill [HL]

It is difficult to express an opinion on that. We have not consulted with our Scottish colleagues on the matter, but in view of what the noble Baroness has said, no doubt we will. I think that what she says goes more to the concerns of the Scottish Parliament, who may wish, if anything of the nature of these amendments is accepted by the Government, to reconsider the position of their own commission. I am most grateful for the powerful contributions made to this debate by three Members of the Committee who have detailed experience of the work of the CRE, in the case of the noble Lord, Lord Ouseley, and of the EOC, in the case of the noble Baronesses, Lady Howe of Idlicote and Lady Lockwood. I pay particular attention to the remarks of the noble Baroness, Lady Lockwood, because I am glad that she supports at least a good many of the principles behind this group of amendments. As we will obviously not press them to a Division now, we will carefully consider what she said in deciding in what form to retable them on Report. I am struck by the remarks made by both the noble Lord, Lord Ouseley, and the noble Baroness, Lady Lockwood, about problems where there has been some pressure from the Government on the commission. Finally, I turn to what was said by the Minister. Of course we did not expect her to accept the amendments as drafted. We welcome her approach to this matter—that there are issues that require further discussion—and we certainly hope for a fruitful discussion with her between now and after the Recess, on Report. There is a fairly substantial gap between us at present. We feel that the status of a non-departmental public body is not enough—among other reasons, because the new commission will be an extremely important constitutional watchdog and will have more enforcement powers. It will have power to issue unlawful act notices under Clause 23, which will be legally binding subject to appeal. So it will not be a body that has powers simply to advise or insist; its power will be those of a tribunal. It therefore has a somewhat different status. It is also plain that the commission will have to survive unscathed a bad as well as a good government. As I said, there are important issues that will need detailed and careful discussion during the next few months. Having said that, I beg leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn. [Amendment No. 2 not moved.]