Mr Don Foster (Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, Culture, Media & Sport; Bath, Liberal Democrat)

I shall make a small point to the Minister. The Bill makes it clear that there will be an Olympic lottery distributor and the clause refers us to schedule 5, which describes how that will be done. I draw the Minister's attention to paragraph 1(2) of the schedule, which says:

''The Secretary of State shall aim to ensure that the distributor has at least 5 members at any time.''

On page 36 of the regulatory impact assessment, we are clearly told:

''It is the intention that any new Olympic Distributor should be as lean and focused as possible and free from historical baggage.''

We welcome that and the intention that the loss to the Olympic lottery fund through necessary bureaucracy would be minimal. The assessment continues:

''The measure proposes that an initial Board of five members be appointed with specific or relevant expertise.''

Will the Minister provide reassurance that it is the intention to restrict the number of board members to five and to minimise the bureaucracy associated with the board's work, and that the wording in the Bill is to provide for someone being taken ill or any other such event?

Mr Nick Hawkins (Surrey Heath, Conservative)

I follow up on the point made by the hon. Member for Bath. I was going to leave my comments until we discussed schedule 5, but given that he has raised the issue, I want to raise a similar query about the Government's intentions. Paragraph 7 of the schedule reads:

''The Distributor may appoint staff.''

Paragraph 8(1) states:

''The Distributor may establish a committee.''

I would be grateful if the Minister could put on the record, in general terms, the number of people on the committee—the hon. Member for Bath queried that—and the number of staff that the Government have in mind. If we deal with that point now, we will probably be able to take schedule 5 on the nod.

Mr Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)

Paragraph 1(2) of schedule 5 refers to ''at least 5 members'', and it is our intention that the board have 5 members. However, the schedule provides flexibility, particularly if more expertise is required. We want to ensure that the board is small, but that it has the necessary quality and breadth of knowledge. We intend to keep schedule 5. The hon. Member for Bath can write back to Mrs. Foster to say that he has had yet another victory, on interpretation, in Committee.

Mr Don Foster (Shadow Secretary of State for Culture, Media & Sport, Culture, Media & Sport; Bath, Liberal Democrat)

That requires only a postcard.

Mr Richard Caborn (Minister of State (Sport and Tourism), Department for Culture, Media & Sport; Sheffield Central, Labour)

Just a one-liner this time. The question of the number of staff is difficult, but the intention is to make sure that there is a quick clearing out, which is very focused and hypothecated. We want to keep both the committee and the number of staff to a minimum. The committee will be more of a conduit than an operations board, so we would expect a small number of staff to make sure that it works efficiently and effectively.

Question put and agreed to.

Clause 29 ordered to stand part of the Bill.

Schedule 5 agreed to.