HC Deb 22 May 1980 vol 985 cc368-76W
Mr. Mike Thomas

asked the Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster if he will arrange now to update the information available to him on the pay and allowances of parliamentarians in the European Economic Community, North America and the Commonwealth and publish the result in the Official Report.

Mr. St. John-Stevas

[pursuant to his reply, 24 March 1980, c 394]: The table below gives the information provided by embassies in response to the standard inquiry on pay and allowances.

PAY AND ALLOWANCES OF PARLIAMENTARIANS IN EEC AND OTHER COUNTRIES (9 MAY 1980)
Basic annual salary Special allowances and concessions Secretarial and office services Travel concessions (on Parliamentary business) Postage and telephone services (on Parliamentary business)
— EEC COUNTRIES
UNITED KINGDOM
£9,450 (£une 1980: J10,725+updating) (June 1981: £12,000+ updating) Subsistence allowance of up to £3,866 p.a. when Member has to stay away from home. Allowance of £546 for Members representing London constituencies. Severance arrangements. Allowance of up to £6,750 for secretarial or research assistance and office expenses. Repayment of fare or car mileage allowance at 18.7p per mile for all journeys between home, Westminster and constituency and within constituency. Limited free travel for spouses. Free stationery. Free inland telephone and postal service from Parliament.
BELGIUM
BF. 1,449,463 (£21,935) Allowance of BF. 17,000 (£257) gross per month for part-time secretarial assistance paid directly to the secretaty concerned. Subsidies payable to each party group in Parliament for logistic support. Free inland rail and bus travel. Car Allowance. Free postage (limited) and free use of telephone from Parliament both for domestic and international calls.
DENMARK
Kr. 146,648 (£11,390) Subsistence Allowance: Residents in or near Copenhagen Kr. 14,143 (£1,098) p.a.: others in Zealand—Kr. 21,583 (£1,676) p.a.: others—Kr. 41,694 (£3,238) p.a. Lump sums allocated per party group. Total allowance per month of Kr. 658,386 (£51,137) (i.e. Kr. 3,678–£286 per head). Free Inland rail, ferry and air travel. Free Inland use of telephone from Folketing and free stationery.
FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF GERMANY
DM. 90,000 (£21,898) DM. 54,000 (£13,139) to cover:— Office provided in Bundestag. Car poor. Within the FRG: free travel on rail and bus, reimbursement of air and sleeping car fares. Travel costs outside the FRG, which requires petmission of the Speaker, also fully reimbursed. Free postage and telephone service from parliamentaty building.
(a) complete upkeep of office outside Bundestag; (c) official travel within FRG; Office expenses met up to a maximum of DM. 55,980 (£13,620) per annum (shortly to be increased by 6 per cent.).
(b) care of the constituency;
(d) subsistence.
FRANCE
F. 260,190 (£27,117) Salary figure includes representational and housing allowances. Limited facilities for staying overnight at Assemblee. Loans at privileged rates to buy house and office. Office provided in National Assemblee, plus FF. 8,126 (£847) per month for a secretary and FF. 5,801 (£605) per month for an assistant. Free ran travel at all ames. Wives travel half price. Forty free return journeys per year by air to the Deputy's constituency, if local aerodrome suitably situated. Free postage. Free telephone calls from Parliament to Paris and constituencies. Quota of free calls from home. Free stationery.
ITALY
Lire 25,075,284 (£13,014) Subsistence allowance included in basic salary. Additional daily allowance of Lire 33,000 (£17) for attendance when there is no full session of the Chamber. Limited amount of office accommodation available. Additional secretarial and office allowance of Lire 150,000 (£78) per month. Free rail travel at all times. Plus certain other concessions for deputies and their families. Quota of free telephone calls from Parliament building.
LUXEMBOURG
Fr. LUX. 976,093 (£13,748) Members receive subsistence if on Parliamentary business. For the first 5 Members the individual party is paid an annual lump sum of LF. 956,310 (£13,469) and LF. 159,385 (£2,245) for each subsequent Member. No allowances payable to parties with less than 5 elected Members. Allowance for official travel within Grand Duchy is LF. 9 (13p) per kilometre for journey up to 10 kms. A set rate of LF. 180 (£2.54) is paid for journeys above 10 kms. Free telephone calls from Parliamentary building. Other office expenses including postage have to be met from office services allowance.
THE NETHERLANDS
Fls. 90,883 (£20,085) Tax free subsistence allowance of (calculated according to how far away the MP lives from Parliament) Fls. 10,679-Fls. 21,357 (£2,360–£4,720). Entitlement to special unemployment benefits, old age pensions, etc. An allowance of up to Fls. 32,952 (£7,282) per annum for personal assistant. The Government also contribute towards secretarial and office costs. First 5,000 km.—51 cents (lip) per km. 5,001–10,000 km.—41 cents (9p) per km. 10,001–20,000 km—38 cents (8½p) per km. Above 20,000 km.—35 cents (8p) per km. Free telephone calls from parliamentary buildings; free postage.
REPUBLIC OF IRELAND
£10,387 (£9,379) Overnight subsistence of £10 (£9) for country Deputies and £6 (£5.40) for Dublin Deputies when attending Dail sittings. Secretarial assistance paid entirely out of public funds. Limit of 1 Secretary to 7 Members. Allowance paid to party leaders may also be used for additional secretarial assistance. Similar to United Kingdom. Similar to United Kingdom with limit of 300 letters per week.
OTHER COUNTRIES AUSTRALIA
$27,575 (£13,451) Member receives an electorate allowance of $9,000 (£4,390) or $13,000 (£6,341) depending on whether the electorate is smaller or larger than 5,000 sq. kilometres. An allowance of $49 (£23) in Canberra and 553 (£26) elsewhere if Member has to stay overnight away from home. A secretary, an assistant and office accommodation provided at the discretion of the Minister for Administrative Services. Members are issued with warrant and credit cards for journeys by air or rail, or qualify for car mileage allowance at public service rates. Limited free travel for spouses or nominees of Members. Free national telephone calls. Free postage up to a limit of 1,250 letters per month.
CANADA
$30,600 (£11,424) Expense allowance of $13,500 (£5,040) to $17,000 (£6,347) depending on distance of constituency from Ottawa. A staff allowance of $62,400 (£23,297) of which at least $13,000 (£4,853) must be spent on constituency office. Free rail travel. 52 return economy air trips. Members may claim 14 cents (5p) per kilometre for travel by car. Limited free travel for members spouses. Free telephone calls within the Ottawa area to any regional office of a Federal Government department; to any provincial Government departments in member's province; from constituency any point within constituency or to Ottawa. Any mail to or from an MP within Canada is free of charge.
NEW ZEALAND
NZ$21,187 (£8,648) Expense allowance NZ $5,060 (£2,065). Electorate allowance of NZ S530 (£216) to NZ $2,595 (£1,059) according to the nature of the electorate. Day attendance allowance NZ $10 (£4). Night attendance allowance, NZ $22 (£9). Members supplied with an office but shares a secretary with one other MP. No help given towards constituency office and secretary. Free air and rail travel for each member and spouse whether or not on Parliamentary business. Free post from Parliament. Additionally Members receive NZ $10 (£4) worth of postage stamps per month for constituency mail. Members have free use of a telephone from their Parliament Office, Wellington accommodation (if any) and home in his electorate.
UNITED STATES—MEMBERS OF THE SENATE
$60,662.50 (£26,753) Senators receive an allowance on a scale of $543,178 (£239,549) to $1,091,406 (£481,326) per year depending on the size of their district to cover the cost of salaries, office services, etc. They also receive an additional allowance called the legislative Assistants' allowance for salaries. Senators receive an allowance on a scale from $33,000 (£14,553) to $143,000 (£63,065) depending on the distance of their district from the District of Columbia. Free postage. Telephone setvices at a reduced rate.
UNITED STATES—MEMBERS OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
$60,662.50 (£26,753) Allowances are on a scale from $75,000 (£33,076) to $100,000 (£44,101) for office expanses and travel etc. and up, to $308,328 (£135,977) for salaries of staff. As for Senators.