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Digital Economy Bill [HL]

My Lords, when the Minister talks about "sufficiently independent" and bodies set up by Ofcom, that is not what the Bill says. The Bill just refers to "another person". If a body is set up by Ofcom, then we can take it that Ofcom has sufficient control over it, its method of operating and so on, and our respect for Ofcom—whatever that might be—can pass down to the body set up by it. However, this just refers to a person chosen by Ofcom. "Sufficiently independent" is an odd concept. The idea that the courts should be "sufficiently independent" of the Government, say, would be an odd thing to put in to the structure of a constitution. Where you need independence—and here, you clearly do—should it not be there? We will come to this again on one of my later amendments, in which I suggest that this body should be a properly constituted tribunal. Why do the Government think that limited independence is sufficient in this case?