HL Deb 12 February 1998 vol 585 cc225-6WA
Lord Monkswell

asked Her Majesty's Government:

What have been, at five year intervals from 1945, the total allowable expenses for daily subsistence and incidental travel based on 100 per cent. attendance on sitting days by a Back-Bench Member of the House of Lords expressed as a percentage of national average earnings. [HL314]

Lord McIntosh of Haringey

Figures for national average earnings are only available from 1970. Reimbursement of Peers' expenses was introduced in 1957. The current daily subsistence and incidental travel allowance was introduced in 1979, as well as separate allowances for secretarial support and overnight subsistence.

The table shows; the number of sitting days in the House of Lords; the maximum total of allowable expenses for daily subsistence and incidental travel based on 100 per cent. attendance; annual national average earnings; and the expenses figure expressed as a percentage of national average earnings allowance since 1970.

Government Reviews announced since 1 May 1997.
Review Original Report Date (where announced) Date Reported Anticipated Report Date
Review of the Crown Prosecution Service. By end of 1997. March 1998.
Review of International Development Policy leading to the publication of a White Paper. 5 November 1997.
Review of Civil Justice and Legal Aid. September 1887. September 1997 (published October 1997).
Review of the UK legislation controlling the disposal of animal waste. Hopes to report by Summer 1998.
Review of the Public Analyst Service in England and Wales. Hopes to report by Autumn 1998.
Review of Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries. February 2000.
Review of the Future Funding of Regulatory Arrangements for Pesticides. December 98. December 1998.
Review of the Current Rules on Quarantine of Imported Pet Animals. Late Spring 1998.
Review of the Hill Livestock Compensatory Allowance Scheme. This review was awnnounced on 22 December, 1997. Its report date is not yet determined.
Review of the Home Grown Cereals Authority. March 1998. March 1998.
Review of the Rates and Structure of Aid to Farmers Under the Organic Aid Scheme. Reported to Ministers in December 1997.
Decision on action to be taken will follow.
Review of Arrangements for Enforcing the Rules on the Welfare of Animals Exported Live to the Continent. September 1997.
Review of the Milk Development Council. Late 1997. October 1997.
Review of Fishing Vessel Licensing. December 1998. December 1998.
Review of the Threshold Exempting Employers with Fewer than 20 Employees From the Employment Provisions of the Disability Discrimination Act 1995. Late Spring Late Spring
Review of the Qualifications Appeals Systems. May 1998. May 1998.
Review of the Bureaucratic Burden on Teachers. Spring 1998. 16 January 1998.
Review of Pensions. To publish initial framework by 30 June 1998. To publish initial framework by 30 June 1998.

Year Number of days sat Yearly expenses (£) Average1 earnings (£) Percentage of average earnings
1960 117 368.55
1965 119 562.87
1970 96 624 1,357 46.0
1975 151 1,896.50 2,808 67.5
1980 158 1,558 5,730 27.2
1985 152 2,772 8,892 31.2
1990 152 3,732 13,681 27.3
1995 145 4,677 17,488 26.7
1997 127 4,246.50 19,115 22.2
1Average gross weekly earnings of full-time employees (from the New Earnings Survey carried out each April) multiplied by 52.