§ 49. Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Chancellor of the Exchequer, further to his reply to the hon. Member for Newham, North-West on 14 May on the £44 a day tax-free attendance allowance paid to Members of the House of Lords, if he will give the reasons why he will not arrange for these payments to be made on (a) a taxed basis or (b) a means-tested basis similar to that adopted for social security benefits.
§ Mr. Peter ReesMembers of the House of Lords are holders of an unpaid office and as such are not taxable on their attendance allowance, which is a reimbursement, up to a maximum figure, of reasonable expenses incurred in connection with the duties of the office. To change the law so as to make this allowance taxable would have wide repercussions, since the present treatment is in accordance with the general rule that reasonable reimbursement to any holder of an unpaid office of expenses incurred by him in connection with the duties of his office is not taxable. Such 263W a change could affect such people as jurors, magistrates, voluntary firemen and unpaid trade union officials attending conferences. As these payments are a reimbursement of expenses the recipient's other income is irrelevant.