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Statistics and Registration Service Bill

Before the hon. Gentleman arrived in the Chamber, I paid tribute to the thorough and effective report that his Sub-Committee produced, and I know that its work will have a real impact on debates in Committee in coming weeks. On the first of the two points that the hon. Gentleman raised, we have made it clear that although there will be three executive members, there will be at least six non-executive members. Therefore, it is clearly open for there to be more than six, but there will be six or more. As a result, there will be a majority of non-executives on the board. On the second point, it is my understanding that that Crown appointment will be the same as others; for example, the Governor of the Bank of England is appointed by the Queen on advice from the Prime Minister, and on issues as important as who should be the Bank’s Governor, the Prime Minister takes the advice of the Chancellor of the Exchequer. I expect that a similar process will occur in this case; it will be a decision of the Crown, but the Prime Minister and senior Ministers will have input into it, as it is important that we get the right person. The hon. Member for Twickenham raised the issue of the Treasury versus the Cabinet Office—