Funding of Opposition Parties in the House of Lords

HL Deb 16 July 2002 vol 637 c150WA

Lord Desai

asked Her Majesty's Government:

Whether any increases in the public funding for Opposition parties in the House of Lords are planned. [HL.5341]

Lord Williams of Mostyn

I am happy to be able to announce that under the 2002 Spending Review the following increases in the public funding of Opposition parties in the House of Lords were agreed:

	Current allocation (£)	New allocation (£)	Increase (£)
Conservatives	227,597	390,555	162,903
Liberal Democrats	68,278	195,000	126,722
Cross-Bench Peers	20,992	35,000*	14,008*
*backdated to 1 April 2001.

This is a full and final settlement, and the Government do not expect to be asked for further increases (other than the automatic annual RPI increase).