Contribution
My Lords, in continuing these staff tributes from the Liberal Democrat Benches, I want to talk about three individuals. First, Ola Diya was a valued member of the housekeeping team. She spent just under 20 years as an early housekeeper, starting in Millbank House with the cleaning contractors and then later transferring to the in-house team, cleaning high-profile areas of the House of Lords, including the first floor offices of the West Front, and covering duties in the Chamber and the Royal Gallery. Housekeepers are vital to the functioning of the House, and the House thanks Ola for her hard work over two decades. She retired in September to spend more time with her family overseas. We wish her all health and happiness.
Secondly, Nicholas Beach retired as deputy counsel to the Chairman of Committees in the House of Lords at the end of October, after a remarkable 40-year career as a lawyer in Whitehall and Westminster. Nick joined the counsel’s office in the House of Lords in 2010, with 25 years’ experience as a government lawyer in the Treasury Solicitor’s Department, the Department for Education, the Ministry of Defence and the Department for Culture, Media and Sport. He came to us with a well-deserved reputation as a public law expert, with an enviable reputation as a drafter of statutory instruments. This expertise has been put to very effective use over the last 15 years, particularly in the House’s scrutiny of delegated powers in Bills and of statutory instruments.
The burden of scrutinising secondary legislation grew considerably during the Brexit and pandemic years. Nick rose admirably to the challenge, with quiet professionalism of the highest order, combined with his trademark patience and good humour. Nick also spent many years advising on the legal aspects of restoration and renewal. He assisted with the transfer of the Parliamentary Archives to the National Archives at Kew, and he advised the archives on the loan to Parliament, in 2015, of the four original copies of Magna Carta. Nick could always be relied upon to keep cool in a crisis, and this ability will be put to good use in his retirement. He hopes to become an expert ice cream maker as well as a cake baker. We wish him all the best in these ventures and all health and happiness in retirement.
Finally, Amanda McGrath is retiring on 31 December, after 13 years as a committee assistant and, later, a committee operations officer in the Lords Committee Office. During her career in the Lords, Amanda developed a specialism working for several sub-committees of the former European Union Committee, including the Home Affairs Sub-Committee, the Justice Sub-Committee, and the Security and Justice Sub-Committee. She has been a committee operations officer for the Justice and Home Affairs Committee since it was established in 2021, guiding it through several high-profile inquiries and handling a high volume of sensitive evidence. She has organised many committee visits, including the Justice and Home Affairs Committee visits to His Majesty’s Prisons Belmarsh and Isis—and getting the committee out again—the Port of Dover, Eurotunnel, and the Eurostar terminal at St Pancras. Before joining the Committee Office, Amanda was a civil servant in the Ministry of Defence. She is planning a number of projects in retirement and will spend more time travelling and at the theatre. We wish her all the best and all health and happiness.
I join in the tributes to my colleagues in the usual channels and the House at large. As we near the Christmas Recess, I take this opportunity from these Benches to wish everyone, Members and staff, a very happy Christmas, a good rest over the two and a half weeks and all the best for the new year.