Payment
WHITE PAPER PROPOSALS
* The Government would prefer to maintain expensesbased allowances rather than move to fulltime salaries (para 86)
* But absence of payment may be a barrier to broadening the Lords. The Government seeks views on whether payment should exceed the current daily rate of £111; whether regular attenders should be able to commute these daily payments to an annual sum; and whether different considerations apply to the elected members (para 87)[73]
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175. Currently peers are paid expenses only. The Royal Commission
recommended a move to formal payment for the time spent on parliamentary
duties, but the Government expressed a preference for the status
quo.
176. We took little evidence on payments, but strongly believe
that the system should encourage participation in the chamber
by a wide range of people. The current system favours those who
already have a private source of income. As the White Paper accepts,
people who are on modest incomes or live far from London might
benefit from a switch to more formal payments.
177. We are in favour of better payment for members of the second
chamber, but the provision of salaries would raise difficult issues
for a chamber whose members are likely to be a mixture of full-time
and part-time members. It may be most practical and flexible in
the transitional period to pay a daily rate, similar to those
paid to members of a number of large public bodies. We recommend
that the Senior Salaries Review Body should review the question
of payment of members when the reformed chamber has been operating
for a number of years.
73
Cmd 5291 Back
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