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House of Lords: Financial Support for Members

My Lords, this is a long awaited day. There is a full House to debate the report before us and express our views freely. All that really needs to be said has been said, and so I should agree with most of the previous speakers and sit down, but I am not going to—at least, not immediately. I want to put on record two points: first, a recognition of what the new scheme will mean to many who have relied on expenses as a form and, indeed, sometimes the only source, of income, and, secondly, the recognition that the current system cannot continue, if only because it invites actual or potential abuse, however fuzzy, and is therefore not fit for purpose in the 21st century. This has been brutally exposed in recent months and has done more damage than I think this House is ready to admit. I suspect that none of us wishes to creep around being unsure about whether we are entitled to a given allowance, and I hope that the clarity that the report aims for will be a relief to most of us. I know that some views expressed today will be somewhat hostile, and perhaps that is inevitable, but I would like to point out that the work that we do in this House is adequately acknowledged in the introduction to the report and the case for reforming the expenses system is certainly cogent. I shall not go over the arguments that were made in the report and were subsequently made by others, but I support the main pillars in the conclusions of an allowance, a cap on overnight expenditure and the vital issue of receipts. As has been said, there are many other aspects of implementation that will have to be sorted out, and the main concern expressed by Cross-Benchers is that there should be a degree of flexibility in the application of these new rules. What is meant by flexibility? Given the principles of good practice and good employment that this House enjoys in the day-to-day administration, the different needs of individuals must be taken into account. To give but one example, a rigid system whereby attendance might in future be electronically recorded would unfairly discriminate against the disabled who perforce need to do much parliamentary work at home. Again, there will be occasions when an extra overnight stay is necessary beyond four or five nights a week for reasons of weather, illness or even late sittings in this House. There are already quite salient differences in the amount of work that individuals put in to, say, committee work: some Members chair committees and/or work many hours per week, others decline to sit on committees or perhaps attend less than half the scheduled sessions. Some are prevented from attending due to illness, and the system of expenses that is anticipated will penalise those who can least afford it by disallowing during the recesses recompense for what has been lost at sitting times. No doubt some noble Lords will feel that it is no longer worth attending the House, no matter how committed they are to public service; others will simply be unable to afford to attend if their travel and overnight expenses are not covered; so, while the report aims at clarity and fairness, the system must also be sufficiently flexible to accommodate those who do not fall neatly into the categories that are set out in the report. This will be the task of the working group, if it is agreed by this House, under anticipated competent chairmanship. I believe that the group will be ready to listen to Members with special needs and to take these into account. With this in place, I feel sure that most of your Lordships will agree to the Motion before us. Finally, I for one rather favour the share-a-room scheme, and suggest that the House might set up a ballot so that proper democratic allocations can be made on the basis of "first come, first served", rather than along party political lines.