§ Mr. Arthur Lewisasked the Lord President of the Council, in view of the fact that the present redundancy payment scheme applicable to hon. Members is inferior to almost all other types of redundancy schemes operated in nationalised, public and private industry, whether he will take whatever action may prove necessary for consideration of a Members of Parliament redundancy scheme being put on a similar basis to other national schemes.
§ Mr. Biffen:The present arrangements for severance pay for hon. Members were approved by the House on 4 March 1980. They are currently under review as part of the examination of parliamentary pay and allowances which the Government have asked the Review Body on Top Salaries to undertake. When the review body's recommendations have been received, the Government will bring forward proposals to the House.