House of Commons Members' Fund (Hansard, 30 March 1990)

§ Mr. Alfred Morris (Manchester, Wythenshawe)

I beg to move, That in pursuance of the provisions of section 3 of the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1948 and of section 2 of the House of Commons Members' Fund and Parliamentary Pensions Act 1981 the maximum annual amounts of the periodical payments which may be made out of the House of Commons Members' Fund under the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1939, as amended and the annual rate of any payments made under section 1 of the said Act of 1981 shall be varied as from 1 April 1990, as follows: (a) for paragraph 1 of Schedule 1 to the said Act of 1939, as amended, there shall be substituted the following paragraph: 1. The annual amount of any periodical payment made to any person by virtue of his past membership of the House of Commons shall not exceed £2,916 or such sum as, in the opinion of the Trustees, will bring his income up to £5,364 per annum whichever is the less: Provided that if, having regard to length of service and need, the Trustees think fit, they may make a larger payment not exceeding £5,619 or such sum as, in their opinion, will bring his income up to £8,067 per annum, whichever is the less: (b) for paragraph 2 of that Schedule there shall be substituted the following paragraph: 2. The annual amount of any periodical payment to any person by virtue of her being a widow of a past Member of the House of Commons shall not exceed £1,464 or such sum as, in the opinion of the Trustees, will bring her income up to £3,913 per annum, whichever is the less: Provided that if, having regard to her husband's length of service or to her need, the trustees think fit, they may make a larger payment not exceeding £2,808 or such sum as, in the opinion of the Trustees, will bring her income up to £5,256 per annum, whichever is the less: (c) in paragraph 2A of that Schedule for the words 'the annual amount of any periodical payment' to the end of the paragraph, there shall be substituted the words: 'the annual amount of any periodical payment made to any such widower shall not exceed £1,464 or such sum as, in the opinion of the Trustees, will bring his income up to £3,913 per annum, whichever is the less: Provided that if, having regard to his wife's length of service or to his needs the Trustees think fit, they may make a larger payment not exceeding £2,808 or such sum as, in the opinion of the Trustees, will bring his income up to £5,256 per annum, whichever is the less: (d) in section 2(1) of the said Act of 1981, for the words from the beginning to the end of paragraph (b) there shall be substituted the words: 'the annual rate of any payments made under section 1 shall be—

(a) £1,698 if the payments are made to a past Member; and
(b) £849 if the payments are made to the widow or widower of a past Member'.

I understand that it will be for the convenience of the House also to discuss the next motion on the Order Paper:

That the whole or any part of the sums deducted or set aside in the current year from the salaries of Members of Parliament under section 1 of the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1939, and the whole or any part of the contribution determined by the Treasury for the current year under section 1 of the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1957, as amended by the House of Commons Members' Fund and Parliamentary Pensions Act 1981, be appropriated 864 for the purposes of section 4 of the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1948, as amended by section 12 of the Parliamentary Pensions Etc. act 1984.

The motions have been tabled in my name and those of right hon. and hon. Members on both sides of the House who share with me the responsibility, as trustees, of administering the House of Commons Members' Fund.

The purpose of the first resolution is to provide for an increase in the present levels of grants and payments that may be made under the Members' Fund legislation. Those were last revised in April 1989. The proposal now is that they should be increased from 1 April 1990 by about 7.6 per cent., in line with the increases approved for public service and state retirement pensions in February this year.

More than 50 years have elapsed since the first Members' Fund Act received the Royal Assent in 1939. During that time—it is important to put it on record that it was not until 1964 that Members of Parliament first became entitled to superannuation benefits as of right—many former Members and their surviving dependants in financially straitened circumstances have been fund beneficiaries. It is a matter of regret that the level of support which successive trustees of the fund have been able to provide for them, over the years, has been extremely modest.

As the House will know, a problem of particular concern to the trustees is that the whereabouts of our former colleagues or their widows or widowers is not always known to us. All hon. Members will have received a copy of a letter from Mr. Dobson, the fund's secretary, about this difficulty, and I am happy to say that there has already been a positive response to our request for help in identifying former colleagues, or their dependants, whose financial circumstances entitle them to assistance from the fund. We have so far received 20 responses, with eight possible new cases. Any further help we can be given by Members in finding possible new beneficiaries of the fund will be most welcome and much appreciated.

The provisions for which I now seek the approval of the House are set out in detail in the motion on the Order Paper, and they can be briefly summarised. Sub-pararaph 1(a) deals with the provision for grants to ex-Members. It is proposed to increase the basic annual grant to £2,916, subject to an income limit, including the grant, of £5,364. In the case of ex-Members with longer service and in need, the grant may be increased to a maximum of £5,619, subject to an income limit of £8,067 per annum.

Sub-paragraphs 1(b) and (c) deal with the provision for grants to widows and widowers of ex-Members. It is proposed to increase the basic annual grant to £1,464, subject to an income limit, including the grant, of £3,913. Similarly, in the case of widows or widowers of ex-Members who had longer service, and where there is need, the grant may be increased to a maximum of £2,808, subject to an income limit of £5,256.

As to as-of-right payments under the House of Commons Members' Fund and Parliamentary Pensions Act 1981, sub-paragraph (d) of the motion relates to ex-Members who gave 10 years' service before October 1964, and to the widows or widowers of such Members provided for by the 1981 Act. It is proposed to increase annual payments to —1,698 in the case of ex-Members and to £849 in the case of widows or widowers. The additional annual costs of those increases is estimated to amount to £6,960. 865 The second resolution relates to section 4 of the House of Commons Members' Fund Act 1948, which authorises the trustees of the Members' fund to make such periodical or other payments as they think fit to ex-Members, or the widows, widowers or children of ex-Members, for the purpose of alleviating special hardship". That section of the Act, together with section 1 of the 1957 Act as amended, provides that in any year, for the purpose of making such payments, the House of Commons may by resolution direct that the whole or any part of the amount contributed by Members, together with up to £22,000 of the Treaury's contribution in the year, be appropriated. The total that may be appropriated under that provision is £37,600.

At present, nine beneficiaries receive payments totalling £15,552 per annum under that section, and the moneys to be appropriated are needed both to continue those payments and to fund any further cases that may arise.

I commend the resolutions to the House, and in doing so I pay further tribute to Jim Dobson and Tony Lewis and to their colleagues in the Fees Office, whose humane concern for the Fund's often very elderly beneficiaries is admired by all of us who see at first hand their work in administering the Fund. They are deserving of the warmest appreciation of the whole House.