Schedule 1 - The Nuclear Decommissioning Authority
Energy Bill [Lords]
10:15 am
Mr Stephen Timms (Minister of State (e-Commerce & Competitiveness), Department of Trade and Industry; East Ham, Labour)
The hon. Gentleman makes an interesting point. The NDA has a particularly long-term task. It will conclude contracts for the clean-up of its sites, which will be long-term contracts of about five years, with options for renewal. In that light, it makes sense to provide for similar continuity in the make-up of the NDA board. The Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments allows for appointments to extend for up to five years. It is appropriate for NDA appointments to be able to be extended to that
maximum length, although the provision does not preclude briefer appointments if those were appropriate in particular circumstances.
The hon. Gentleman makes a fair point about the organisation being at its very beginning. It is likely that there will be different periods of service for people appointed to the board right at the start, if only to avoid wholesale change in its composition after the first terms are concluded. However, it is appropriate to allow for appointments of up to five years.
Renewal of NDA appointments is also provided for in the Bill, but we have made it clear that we will follow the guidelines of the Office of the Commissioner for Public Appointments, which allow for one reappointment and a maximum length of service of 10 years. Justified exceptions can be made, and we want to preserve that flexibility in case it is needed.
The points made by the hon. Gentleman are fair, but given the long-term nature of the task that the NDA faces and the contracts into which it will enter, five years is a sensible point at which to set the term.