---

Statistics and Registration Service Bill

I will not press my amendment today. Obviously, I have listened to the debate, but I apologise to the hon. Member for Dundee, East (Stewart Hosie) for suggesting that my mind was closed to his amendments even before I had heard his arguments. However, he will acknowledge that those arguments were aired in Committee. Sadly, he has not changed my mind today. The point made by the right hon. Member for Cardiff, South and Penarth (Alun Michael) about the importance of stability struck me as sensible. He expressed the concern that a shift to the Cabinet Office would involve further instability, but given that we are creating an entirely new structure, I do not think that that is a significant factor. I assure the House that I am not a Treasury-basher, although I was accused of being one. However, I am of course happy for Treasury Front Benchers and shadow Treasury Front Benchers to engage in robust political debate. I certainly understand the importance of the Treasury’s being involved in pursuing a value-for-money agenda across the Departments. Treasury-bashing is not the motivation behind the amendments at all; the issue is simply the practical consideration of which arrangement would work best. I acknowledge that the argument has two sides, and that the international pattern is mixed. If anything, I think that the Treasury is the home Department in a slightly greater number of countries. I acknowledge, too, that the Treasury Committee came to a different view. There is not a serious divide between the two sides of the House on the issue, and I acknowledge that it is not as significant as the important matters that we discussed today. I will therefore not press the amendment to a Division, and I beg to ask leave to withdraw the amendment. Amendment, by leave, withdrawn.