Schedule 3 - The Gambling Commission
Gambling Bill
4:15 pm
Mr Geoffrey Clifton-Brown (Assistant Chief Whip, Whips; Cotswold, Conservative)
Thank you for allowing me to catch your eye, Mr. Gale. I decided to make a short speech on the schedule, because, frankly, I am getting a little bored. I urge the Minister to reject both amendments.
Paragraph 1 does not tell us how many commissioners there will likely be. I urge that there not be too many, as a huge board becomes unwieldy and difficult for the chairman to manage. I imagine that the Secretary of State will first appoint a chairman, and then she and the chairman will have discussions as to who the other commissioners should be. Perhaps the Minister would clarify the process.
Whether representatives of local authorities, workers, employers, the Confederation of British Industry or anyone else I can think of who might belong to a special category, the type of people who are appointed are, sometimes, excellent, but sometimes they are put there purely because it is Buggin's turn, or because an individual body wants to get rid of someone who is a nuisance, saying ''Let us put them on that commission to get them out of the way.'' There are all sorts of reasons why reserving positions for specific categories may result in people who are not satisfactory.
Mr. Foster rose—