Clause 5 - Other inquiries held by Commissioner
Children Bill [Lords]
2:30 pm
Mr Tim Loughton (Shadow Minister for Children, Family; East Worthing and Shoreham, Conservative)
It is a pleasure to welcome you to the Chair, Dame Marion, not because the previous Chairman was no good, but because it is always good to see you in the Chair. You may have missed all the high jinks this morning, when the Government hijacked all our amendments, but they have not hijacked amendments Nos. 14 and 15.
We think that there is an anomaly in the language of subsection (1), which states:
''Where the Secretary of State considers that the case of an individual child in England''—
the last two words were added by one of the amendments hijacked in our earlier debate—
''raises issues of relevance to other children, he may direct the Children's Commissioner to hold an inquiry into that case.''
That appears to be contrary to all the warm words that we have heard from the Government in underpinning the supposed independence of the commissioner. We are therefore keen for the Minister to explain why—
Sitting suspended for a Division in the House.
On resuming—