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Regulatory Enforcement and Sanctions Bill [HL]

moved Amendment No. 4: 4: Schedule 1, page 36, line 32, at beginning insert ““half”” The noble Lord said: My Lords, the noble Lord, Lord Hodgson, raised an important point in Committee about the provisions in the Bill for board membership. As he said, the Bill allows the chair to appoint ex officio members—in other words, employees of the LBRO—to the board. Currently, the number of ex officio members may not exceed the number of ordinary members. This may allow the chairman to form an effective majority over the ordinary members of the board simply by appointing the maximum number of employees as ex officio members. While we think this is unlikely in practice, it is clearly unacceptable if we wish to make the right provision for the good governance of the new body. We agreed in Committee to consider restricting further the number of ex officio members. Having considered the matter, we believe that the approach suggested by the noble Lord in Committee—in other words, that the number of ex officio members should be limited to half the number of full board members—is the right one and we are grateful to him for raising the issue. The effect is that employees may only ever form one-third of the committee, removing the risk that they might make up an effective majority. I know that there is an amendment in the name of the noble Lord. I have had the good fortune to discuss this matter with him prior to today. I hope that he will not move his amendment. I beg to move.