Lord Deben:

No, we have some pretty tough and feisty economists, particularly the chief executive of the Institute for Fiscal Studies. I do not think that is a problem. The point about the scientists is that they all contribute different things to the committee. For example, when I became chairman, the one thing I insisted upon was having a behavioural scientist on the committee. We had never had that. One of the problems we all face is that we have to move on from getting what is right in science and economics to helping people to take these things on board. We need a behavioural scientist to give us advice on doing that.

I think, therefore, that the balance we have is the right one. I have nearly got it to 50:50 between men and women and I am quite proud of that. It is necessary then to go and seek people. Nobody is appointed on the basis of gender but women are sometimes less willing to put their names forward, so we do have to work on that. That is an important aspect. It is one of the areas where there is a real need for a range of people and women bring a different way of looking at things from the men on the committee. That is what I find.