Part of the debate – in the House of Lords at 9:15 pm on 15 March 2010.
My Lords, I cannot see how the Government can reasonably resist this amendment. Either we will have a position where the Treasury is calling the shots all the time or we will have a tripartite co-ordinating structure, which I think is the Minister's plan. He keeps telling us that the council has no Executive responsibility and is a co-ordinating body. The authority does not have to consult the other two members; only one of the other two members is consulted. Surely the very essence of the co-ordination that the Minister has in mind should require all three parties to dance at the same time.