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National Lottery Bill

My Lords, in the face of such an excellent team of right reverend Prelates here this afternoon, I hesitate to say that I was not as persuaded as the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones. The amendment is to add the phrase, ““such other persons as he””—the Secretary of State—““thinks appropriate””, to the list of people that he shall consult on the reallocation of funds. If this had been expressed in objective terms, I might have seen that it had a point. Given that the amendment is expressed as simply adding that phrase, and that—I think I am right in saying—the Secretary of State, under this clause and any other such powers, is always entitled to consult whom he thinks fit, what does this add to the normal procedure? On the argument of the right reverend Prelate and the noble Lord, Lord Clement-Jones, it would mean that we have to add that rather pointless subsection to every Bill.