Derek McDowell (Labour)

While I agree with the Minister of State to some extent, the difficulty is that the requirement to hold a minimum of two annual meetings will result in twice-yearly meetings becoming the norm. Perhaps it would have been preferable to stick with a formula which would allow regular meetings to be held, rather than prescribing a specific number of meetings. Having opted to prescribe, I hope two meetings per annum will not become the maximum number or the norm.