Clause 5 - Constitution of NDA
Energy Bill [Lords]
10:00 am
Mr Richard Page (South West Hertfordshire, Conservative)
Unsurprisingly, I support my hon. Friend and, regretfully, I disagree with the hon. Member for Lewes. Along with everyone else, I welcome the setting up of this agency. As my hon. Friend said, that is long overdue. It was unfortunate that, in 1997, a geological survey in Cumbria brought a halt to the idea of having a high-level waste disposal facility.
I understand where the hon. Gentleman is coming from, but he advances an argument that is contrary to the reality of what happens when civil servants leave to go to industry. They take with them knowledge of, and expertise on, Government programmes and policies and what could be happening, and that might give a financial advantage to one company. They have a six-month cooling-off period in which, in theory, the Government move on at such a rate that the expertise and knowledge of those civil servants is completely lost, and then they are supposed to go into a company without giving it the commercial advantage that it would have had had they joined it immediately. I have not yet fathomed how that prevents a civil servant from talking to the company that they are to join in six months' time, but illumination will, no doubt, come at some point.
I say to the hon. Member for Lewes that the situation is not as he suggested. It is not about a gamekeeper becoming a poacher—I exaggerate to make the point—but about a poacher becoming a gamekeeper. Is he seriously saying that someone with knowledge of the industry should not be able to join a decommissioning agency immediately so that he can
give advice and help to ensure that the work is done as quickly and effectively as possible, but that, unfortunately, the agency should have to hold off for six months before it can benefit from that person's knowledge? That would be completely against the national interest.
My hon. Friend the Member for Tewkesbury (Mr. Robertson) made his points with his customary clarity. I am sure that, in an industry as tight-knit as the nuclear industry in this country, the Government and the officials will, in some shape or form, have discussions with people from Nirex, BNFL and so on, because they will be the necessary runners and riders for the posts that are coming along. My hon. Friend wishes to see that point covered in the Bill, so that there will be transparency in the process. I hate to tell the Government that they sometimes operate behind closed doors, but we should like to see the selection process more open and described in the Bill, so that industry knows about the type of people who will become part of the system. Let us have some political honesty and transparency; that is the reason behind my hon. Friend's amendment, which I enthusiastically support.