I am grateful to have caught your eye, Mrs. Adams. I am getting into the swing of catching your eye.

It is a little uncertain what directing powers authorities will have. Earlier in the Bill, we see that the authority may require the agency to take note of its directions. Things become a little grey. Will the Minister tell us the nature of the directions that she envisages, how they will be carried out and what force they will have? Will she also say what veto the

authority may have over the HPA if it fails to comply with a directive? This is not an arm's length body, but a non-departmental public body, and the whole idea of shifting it from being a special health authority to being an NDPB is to give it some independence. I become a little confused when I see words such as ''direction'' and ''directive'' in a Bill that aims to make a shift in that status.