Kids Company

Lord Tugendhat Excerpts

Tuesday 8th September 2015 Lords Chamber

[Lord Bridges of Headley]

My Lords, I hear what the noble Baroness has to say. When a ministerial direction is given, it is automatically referred to the NAO, as a number of your Lordships will know. It is then expected to be passed to the Public Accounts Committee, and it is up to the PAC to decide what it wishes to do.

[Lord Tugendhat (Con)]

My Lords—

[Lord Morris of Handsworth]

My Lords—

[The Lord Privy Seal (Baroness Stowell of Beeston) (Con)]

My Lords, it is the turn of the Conservative Benches, and I am sure the House wants to hear from my noble friend Lord Tugendhat. I think we should go then to the noble Lord, Lord Morris, who has been very patient.

[Lord Tugendhat]

My Lords, the Minister will be aware that in the corporate sector, rotation is the normal rule. It is very rare for non-executive directors to stay for more than three terms of three years. I read in the press that the chairman of the trustees of Kids Company has been in office for some 18 years. I do not know whether other trustees have been in office for an equally long time. Does the Minister agree that the lack of rotation is perhaps one of the causes of the difficulties that have occurred and that bringing new blood on to boards of directors or trustee boards is one safeguard against the sorts of problems that have arisen on this occasion?

[Lord Bridges of Headley]

I entirely agree. That is a very interesting point. Again, I point to the Charity Commission’s investigation into this. It will look at the role of trustees—not just in Kids Company but more broadly, I hope—and the lessons it can learn from that. I hasten to add that trustees obviously provide a considerable wealth of experience. One needs to get the balance right between rotation and retaining that experience on a board of trustees.