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Child Poverty Bill

My Lords, the amendment follows on from the interesting debates we had on 21 January on the appointment of the chair of the commission, and on the question that we discussed on 25 January about the circumstances under which the chair could be removed. I would be grateful if the Minister could expand a little more on some points that were raised then as to the focus and parameters of the research that the commission is expected to undertake and the advice it is expected to give. The Minister stated categorically that, "““if the Secretary of State feels that the advice that he or she is given is not advice that they can work with or does not move the policy forward, ultimately it will be very much within the power of the Secretary of State to take decisions on what the advice and strategy should contain””.—[Official Report, 25/1/10; col. GC 240.]" This is very interesting and would suggest that my amendment is knocking at an open door. The Minister already intends the commission to have regard to a basic matrix provided by the Secretary of State on the areas and approach that he or she intends the UK strategy to follow. My amendment would put that initial guidance on a slightly more formal and transparent footing, giving the opportunity for the commission to be provided with a framework setting out where its advice would be appreciated. Following on from that point, could we hear a little more about the day-to-day relationship between the commission and the department? Are they to have occasional arm’s-length contact where the draft strategy is published; then, a little while later, the commission’s advice is published in response; and then, a little while after that, the final strategy is published and implemented? Or is there to be a more fluid and ongoing conversation between the two, giving the commission an integral role in the development of the strategy? Can the Minister answer a question that stumped him on 21 January? Has he been able to establish in the interim which Secretary of State is to have ultimate responsibility for the appointment of the chair and the work of the commission as a whole? Who, under this Government, would be the person in the driving seat? I beg to move.