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Postal Services Bill [HL]

I am not surprised that the Minister referred to the report of Delegated Powers and Regulatory Reform Committee, but given that the Government will not, for quite acceptable reasons, accept my Amendment 78 to Clause 24, Amendment 79 becomes even more important. The DPRRC noted that the provisions are "slightly unusual" and that, ""the pension arrangements have attracted a certain amount of public attention"—" you can say that again. It confirmed that there was a case for the first use of the more significant powers needing the affirmative process even if there are enough precedents of the negative procedure to make it difficult for it to insist. Is the Minister giving a commitment that he and his colleagues have decided that they will always follow the DPRRC’s recommendations in future? We frequently hear from Ministers about why there are certain exceptional reasons for the committee’s recommendations to be disregarded—the Government frequently break with precedent by forcing through extensive and unprecedented Henry VIII powers, for example. Is the Minister now insisting—I cannot resist this final tease—that the committee’s arguments were wrong?