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London Olympic Games and Paralympic Games Bill

I am slightly surprised that the chairman of the ODA will be ““non-executive””. In today’s modern world, I thought there was no longer such a thing as a truly non-executive chairman of anything, certainly not of corporations and companies. Perhaps the Minister can enlighten me. The longest experience I have had was 11½ years on the Millennium Commission and the chairman was always the Secretary of State. I reminded one Secretary of State, Chris Smith, on behalf of the commissioners, that he was chairman of the Millennium Commission when he was with us and that his Permanent Secretary and his Red Box stayed outside the door. He and all his other colleagues who had been chairmen performed in that way. Nevertheless, occasionally a vote had to be taken and the chairman had the casting vote. Do I understand that under this legislation, the chairman of the ODA in this vitally important role will not have the casting vote in a decision-making situation because he is purely an observer? Have I misunderstood something?