HL Deb 26 November 1985 vol 468 cc796-7
Lord Aberdare

My Lords, I beg to move the second Motion standing in my name on the Order Paper.

Moved, That a Select Committee be appointed for the general supervision of arrangements relating to leave of absence and the reimbursement of Lords' expenses; and that, as proposed by the Committee of Selection, the Lords following, with the Chairman of Committees, be named of the Committee:—

Denham, L. Ponsonby of Shulbrede, L.
Hylton-Foster, B.
Kilmarnock, L Tordoff, L.

—(Lord Aberdare.)

Lord Shinwell

My Lords, I am not opposing reference to a Select Committee of this very important subject of noble Lords' absences and reimbursements, but when I see the names of those who will be responsible for examining reimbursements I wonder—and I say this without any malice in my mind—what their reimbursements are. I ask this merely as a matter of enlightenment.

The situation is this, if I may be allowed to put it to your Lordships. A vast number of Members of this House do not attend, for one reason or another. There are various reasons why they cannot attend—possibly complaints or illness, or they have other work to do. After all, there is a great deal of voluntary work done outside this House by your Lordships. In those circumstances, unless they attend they cannot claim for expenses incurred by them in the way of correspondence, transport, interviews, and research for information all over the place. Those are some of the activities that every Member of your Lordships' House has to undertake at one time or another.

In those circumstances, if I may put it in this fashion, these gentlemen—noble Lords, I should say, but I do not withdraw the term "gentlemen"—should take into account what I have just said. They should take into account the variety of activities which are undertaken by Members of your Lordships' House apart from attendance, and pay them accordingly.

Lord Aberdare

My Lords, the committee actually has no particular powers in respect of the rules that exist for the claiming of expenses. It is appointed mainly to deal with individual claimants and difficulties that arise under the regulations as they exist. I am afraid that most of the suggestions made by the noble Lord would not be appropriate for this particular committee.

On Question, Motion agreed to.