My Lords, first, I apologise to the House for being unavoidably detained elsewhere at the start of this debate. I should like to begin by echoing the comments made by my noble friend Lord Thomas of Gresford. We thank the noble and learned Lord and the Bill team for responding in such a positive manner to the amendments that were carried at an earlier stage. As a result, it is a better Bill.

As regards this amendment, we support the attempts made by the noble Baroness to obtain a satisfactory review of the progress of the merger, given its importance and the importance attached to it by the Government and external observers. We support the efforts that the noble Baroness has made to achieve that.