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Equality Bill [HL]

My Lords, I see that the noble Lord, Lord Ouseley, has learned the art of degrouping on the Floor of the Chamber, which is very impressive. I agree with what the noble Lord, Lord Lester, said. While I understand entirely the sentiment behind what the noble Lord, Lord Ouseley, seeks to do, the amendment leads us straight into the silos that I have sought to avoid at every conceivable stage of the Bill. It is really important that the new commission can operate by developing cross-strand working; that is at the heart of what we want the commission to be. We do not want to set up in legislation an elaborate and complex committee structure, for all the reasons that noble Lords have raised today and at other stages of the passage of the Bill. It is very important that the commission uses its resources and sets up the appropriate committees permanently, semi-permanently, temporarily or for particular reasons as it seems fit. It is very important that it does so in the context of wanting to work with cross strands. For those reasons, I hope that the noble Lord will feel able to withdraw his amendment.