§ (".—(1) The Minister for the Civil Service may, to such extent and subject to such conditions as he thinks fit, delegate to any person the function of administering a scheme made under section 1 of the Superannuation Act 1972, so far as relating to employees of any of the bodies specified in section 337(1) above.
§ (2) A person to whom the function of administering a scheme made under section 1 of the Superannuation Act 1972 is delegated under subsection (1)(a) above may, to such extent and subject to such conditions as he may determine, authorise the exercise of that function by, or by employees of, any person.
136§ (3) Where a person is authorised under subsection (2) above to exercise the function of administering a scheme made under section 1 of the Superannuation Act 1972, anything done or omitted to be done by or in relation to him (or an employee of his) in. or in connection with, the exercise or purported exercise of the function shall be treated for all purposes as done or omitted to be done by the person who authorised him.
§ (4) Subsection (3) above does not apply for the purposes of—
- (a) any criminal proceedings against the authorised person (or any employee of his); or
- (b) any contract between him and the person who authorised him, so far as relating to the function.").
§ The noble Lord said: My Lords, I will speak also to Amendments Nos. 564, 564A and 565. The first amendment makes two changes to the Superannuation Act 1972, which is the legislation governing the principal Civil Service pension scheme. The amendment provides for responsibility for the operation of the CSPS, the GLA and each of its functional bodies to be delegated to the bodies themselves or other such persons within each body as the Minister for the Civil Service deems appropriate. In addition, the amendments provide for the GLA and its associated bodies to sub-contract administration, although there is no obligation to do so.
§ Noble Lords with sharp eyes may have noticed the cross-reference in sub-paragraph (2) to "subsection (1)(a)", which does not exist. That is a typographical error, for which I apologise. We checked with the House authorities, who confirmed that the meaning and intent is clear. If the amendment is passed, that error will be rectified in the next printing of the Bill.
§ Amendments Nos. 564 and 565A are both technical amendments, to change references to "Corporation of London" to "Common Council". We went over that ground earlier. Amendment No. 564A adds a Minister of the Crown to the list of successor bodies in Clause 351(2) to which the property, rights and liabilities of existing bodies listed in Clause 351(3) can be transferred. The intention is that the property, rights and liabilities of the London Ecology Unit, the London Planning Advisory Committee and the London Research Centre will be transferred to the Secretary of State at their abolition, prior to transferring to the GLA on 8th May. This amendment provides the necessary powers for that to occur.
§ The first of these amendments relates to pensions, and the noble Baroness mentioned that the pensions of those who work for London Underground will be transferred to the private sector as part of the public private partnership. That is a different issue to the one covered here. We have been unable to table amendments for Report and it is our intention to do so for Third Reading, which may require some adjustment to the timetable. That is a matter for the usual channels, as the noble Baroness and I have discussed. I beg to move.
§ On Question, amendment agreed to.
§ [Amendment No. 556A not moved.]
§ Clause 342 [Provision of information, advice and assistance by functional bodies]:
137
§
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton moved Amendment No. 557:
Page 186, line 22, leave out ("subsection (2) below") and insert ("the following provisions of this section").
§ The noble Baroness said: My Lords, in moving this amendment, I shall speak also to Amendments Nos. 558 to 563.
§ Amendments Nos. 557 to 563 fulfil the Government's commitment to tidy up the mayor's power to obtain information, advice and assistance from the functional bodies. The effect is to limit the duty to supply information, advice and assistance to that which the mayor may reasonably require for exercising her or his functions. The amendments also simplify the Secretary of State's power, by order, to make appropriate arrangements to protect privacy and confidentiality. We anticipate that the arrangements will be based on Part VA of the Local Government Act 1972. I beg to move.
§ On Question, amendment agreed to.
§
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton moved Amendments Nos. 558 to 563:
Page 186, line 24, leave out ("require") and insert ("request").
Page 186, line 24, at end insert—
("( ) The information, advice or assistance that may be requested under subsection (1) above is such in formation, advice or assistance as the Mayor may reasonably require for the purpose of discharging functions of the Authority which are exercisable by him.").
Page 186, line 26, leave out ("confidential").
Page 186, line 29, leave out paragraph (b).
Page 186, line 31, leave out paragraph (c) and insert—
("(c) impose further limitations on the exercise of the powers conferred on the Mayor by subsection (1) above.").
Page 186, line 34, leave out subsection (3).
§ On Question, amendments agreed to.
§ Clause 343 [Research and collection of information: London Research Centre etc.]:
§
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton moved Amendment No. 563.A:
Page 187, line 15, at end insert—
("(3A) The Secretary of State may make regulations requiring the Authority to make, or assist in making, arrangements whereby information falling within subsection (3B) below which is in the possession of the Authority is made available to any of the bodies and persons mentioned in subsection (3)(a) to (c) above.
(3B) The information which falls within this subsection is—
§ The noble Baroness said: My Lords, this amendment corrects a loophole that we have noticed in the provisions at Clause 343 of the Bill. The clause provides the Secretary of State with a fall-back power enabling him to instruct the GLA to make research data that it has collected available to others, in recognition of the 138 important role it is inheriting from the LRC. However, the current provisions do not extend to research work carried out by predecessor bodies but inherited by the GLA. The amendment makes clear that the Secretary of State's power should extend to enabling him to instruct the GLA to make available information transferred to it under the transfer provisions at Clauses 351 and 352 of the Bill. I beg to move.
§ On Question, amendment agreed to.
§
Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton moved Amendment No. 563B:
After Clause 346, insert the following new clause—
§ ("Overseas assistance