Lord Harper (Con)

I think that is right and that that is a concern. The noble Baroness, Lady Fox, set it out very well. There are two approaches in this group of amendments to deal with that issue, and I want to explain why I have come down on one side rather than the other. There is the approach that my noble and learned friend Lord Garnier set out, which is to take it away from the Prime Minister and make it an appointment by His Majesty the King on advice from the Lord Chancellor. The alternative approach, set out in the amendment proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Beith, is a better one, which is to subject the person concerned to a pre-appointment hearing of a Select Committee. That is a better approach because it is more transparent. As the noble Baroness, Lady Falkner, set out, it is actually quite a tough process whereby the candidates can be grilled about their views and their qualifications, how they intend to use the role and whether they intend to use it to advance the law in any way. They can be questioned on that. There is also a precedent, as has been mentioned in the debate, I think by my noble friend Lady Coffey: appointments to the Office for Budget Responsibility not only have a pre-appointment hearing by the Treasury Committee, but the Treasury Committee has a veto and has to consent to those appointments before they can be made by the Government. That is a good model. So rather than changing who makes the appointment, I am content for it to remain a prime ministerial appointment, with the amendment to consult Welsh Ministers, but before the Prime Minister can make such an appointment, we should ensure that there is a pre-appointment hearing by a Select Committee of the House of Commons. I am not convinced that it should necessarily be the Health and Social Care Select Committee, as there is an argument it should be the Justice Committee, given the nature of this role. That is a secondary question, but there should be a pre-appointment hearing where the person’s qualifications and motivations can be interrogated in public, and then that committee can make a decision. It would mean that the Prime Minister could proceed only with the consent of a cross-party committee—whether it should be a committee of just the House of Commons or a joint committee of both Houses may be an issue worth considering. That would achieve what my noble friend Lord Deben was arguing for: a transparent process held in public so that the public can have confidence in the person appointed, and the Prime Minister can then move forward with that appointment, knowing that it is not going to generate an enormous amount of partisan controversy, which is the last thing we want for this important appointment. So, on balance, I am happy if the noble and learned Lord, Lord Falconer, moves his Amendment 131. I would certainly have no problem with adding that to the Bill. I am attracted to the solution proposed by the noble Lord, Lord Beith: pre-appointment hearings, with the Select Committee having a veto on the appointment, and only when that has taken place can the Prime Minister move forward. If we do that, we will have a robust process in which we can have tremendous confidence.