Schedule 1
Child Maintenance and Other Payments Bill
9:30 am
Andrew Selous (Shadow Minister, Work & Pensions; South West Bedfordshire, Conservative)
The hon. Gentleman has raised a valid point. This will be a massive task. In addition to appointing the chief executive and the non-executive directors, the chairman—whoever he or she is—will have a huge job setting up the agency and getting it off to the right start.
I was surprised when I learned from Janet Allbeson in the second evidence-taking sitting that the advertised post was for two days a week. I look forward to hearing from the Minister why that is the case. Most of us agree that £100,000 a year is enough to get one up and out of bed every morning for perhaps five days a week—many of us get up and out of bed and work very hard for quite a lot less than that.
Hopefully, the person appointed will not be restricted to working two days a week and will be entitled to go into their office and make progress on other days of the week. Will the Minister reassure us that he will be looking at candidates who do not have heavy commitments for the other three days a week just in case the Government have got their calculations wrong and the chairman’s role turns out to be full time?
In the early days of the agency, when the chairman will have to deal with massive inherited problems such as the uncertainties around how many parents will go into these appropriate voluntary arrangements, I can envisage the job taking considerably longer than two days a week. I look forward to hearing what the Minister has to say on that point. I have no doubt that the Minister and the Department are keen to get the very best people for the job, but looking at schedule 1, it seems to me that we should stiffen our resolve to deal with the concerns on this matter to ensure that we really do get the very best people for the job.