Schedule 1
Child Poverty Bill
6:10 pm
David Gauke (Shadow Minister, Treasury; South West Hertfordshire, Conservative)
I beg to move amendment 9, in schedule 1, page 16, line 12, at end insert—
‘(1A) The appointment of the chair under sub-paragraph (1)(a) must be approved by a resolution of the House of Commons within three months of the appointment.
(1B) Before appointing a chair under subparagraph (1)(a), the Secretary of State must consult the Treasury, Work and Pensions, and Children, Schools and Families Committees of the House of Commons, or their successors.’.
The amendment was tabled before the recess, when little did I realise that the issue of consultation with Select Committees about appointments would become quite so topical. I am attempting to achieve two things with the amendment. First, I want to strengthen the position of Parliament with regard to the commission by enabling greater parliamentary scrutiny. The Government might look on that favourably, as the Prime Minister, in his first statement as Prime Minister on 4 July 2007, argued for greater parliamentary involvement in appointments. Indeed, he made similar remarks when still Chancellor of the Exchequer, for example on the “Andrew Marr Show” in January 2007.