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Child Poverty Bill

Amendment 10 is in my name and, I am pleased to say, in the name of the Minister as well. For that reason I think I can promise your Lordships a very short debate. Schedule 1 sets up the arrangements for the appointment, payment, functions, governance, and so on, of the Child Poverty Commission. It was my intention when I raised these matters in Committee to try to ensure that the commission is as independent as possible of Government, but your Lordships will see from page 18 of the Bill that the Secretary of State appoints all its members apart from those who are appointed by the devolved Administrations. I am slightly reassured by what I was told in Grand Committee about the public appointments arrangements—that the best person for the job will emerge from the process for appointment to the chair—and by paragraph 1(2) of Schedule 1 which states that the Secretary of State must consult the chair and the devolved Ministers when appointing the rest of the members. However, I feel that we could give the commission a little more independence if we allowed it to select its own deputy chair, and that is what my amendment seeks to do. I am pleased to say that the Minister agrees with the idea. I beg to move.