Commons anger over £200-a-day attendance fee for Lords

Published on Thursday 26 November 2009 23:42

MEMBERS of the House of Lords are to be awarded a £200-a-day attendance fee under plans to overhaul their expenses system after a string of scandals.

The daily allowance will enable peers to earn about 30,000 a year if they attend on every one of the 150 days that the House sits annually on average. It replaces existing attendance and office expenses worth up to 161.50 a day.

However, many peers do not currently claim the maximum under those headings as they are meant to reimburse actual out-of-pocket expenses.

The Senior Salaries Review Body (SSRB), which drew up the proposals for Gordon Brown, claimed the current 18 million a year House of Lords expenses bill would not increase. That was because the overnight accommodation allowance would be cut at the same time from 174 to 140.

It will also be available for only one night per day's sitting, rather than two as at present, and peers will be forced in future to support their claims with receipts.

But the reforms provoked anger in the Commons, where a similar proposal from the Prime Minister for a per diem attendance allowance had to be abandoned earlier this year.

Labour MP John Mann accused the SSRB of effectively granting the Lords a pay rise, despite the controversy which has engulfed many of its members this year.

"It's right that the rules should be made tighter so lazy lords can't exploit the system, but to give them a pay rise as reward for general abuse of expenses is madness," he said. "The Lords must be trying to create sympathy for the Commons, it's the only possible explanation."

But Mr Brown, who ordered the review of Lords allowances in June amid growing anger about abuse of the system, said he accepted the SSRB's report.

In a letter to SSRB chairman Bill Cockburn, the Prime Minister said current arrangements were now "outdated" and had to be replaced by "a regime that would be more transparent and ensure greater accountability". He went on: "Your proposals achieve this aim and I therefore accept your report."

The plans are to be debated by the Lords before Christmas, with implementation slated for next April.