Lording It Up!
Investigative journalism is alive and well, it seems. At the weekend, the Sunday Times ran a really interesting story - this time about expenses in the House of Lords.
Now it’s been known for some time that the regime in the Lords is just a lax as the one in the House of Commons – but the paper has lifted the lid off the scandal that allows their lordships to claim generous tax free allowances - just for signing in at their place of ‘work’
The ST’s insight team tracked Chris Smith (now Lord Smith of Finsbury) - a former Labour culture minister who earns £220,000 a year from two quango jobs who and claims more than £20,000 a year for attending the Lords — all within the rules.
Here’s summary of the paper’s report from Sunday 19 July 2009:
“It took Lord Smith of Finsbury exactly 10 minutes to walk in and out of the House of Lords on Wednesday evening. He went straight to the chamber and stood near the door listening to the debate for four minutes before leaving.
The quick visit meant he could claim £161.50 for attending the house that day. He had, in his own words, “clocked in” for his daily and office allowance.
The day before, he had spent three minutes in the chamber, and on Thursday less than one minute. In those three days he did not speak in the house, did not vote or ask any written questions.
On Friday Lord Tyler, a Liberal Democrat spokesman on constitutional reform, said there could be up to 100 peers who popped in and out of the chamber to claim allowances.
He said: “There is a great deal of frustration among the more active members of the house about the way in which the system is open to exploitation.”
Peers claim allowances by attending a select committee or entering the chamber while the house is sitting, where they must attract the attention of a clerk who ticks off their name. Many claim the maximum, which is £86.50 for day subsistence, £75 for office costs and £174 for staying overnight in London.
The Sunday Times has monitored the Lords on a number of days in the past six months. Typically between 10 to 50 peers entered the chamber for less than five minutes each day.
Our reporters saw politicians loitering next to the benches waiting to be given the nod by the clerk. Some later claimed they were working on Lords business elsewhere in the house.
We decided to monitor Smith in the Lords last week because he had been spotted nipping in and out of the chamber and he has substantial commitments outside parliament.
Smith has taken on a number of jobs since becoming a peer in 2005 and divides his time between two chairmanships: for the Environment Agency three days a week and for the Advertising Standards Authority 2 1/2 days a week.
Since November last year he has spoken in one debate, not submitted any questions and taken part in only nine out of 62 votes. However, the records show he normally appeared in the chamber on 80% of days that the house was sitting. On these days he claimed day subsistence and office costs but not accommodation, because his main home is in London.
On Tuesday, Smith spent most of his day in his Environment Agency office before leaving in his car at 6.30pm. He parked in the peers’ car park and attended a drinks reception in the House of Lords held by Thames 21, an environmental charity. After drinks, he popped into the chamber for three minutes and then immediately left the house for a dinner hosted by Natural England, an environment quango.
On Wednesday, Smith was in his Environment Agency office from lunchtime until 7.30pm when he drove to the House of Lords, popped into the chamber and drove off within 10 minutes. On Thursday, he entered the chamber for less than a minute. He later headed across the road to Portcullis House to give a speech on climate change.
This weekend Smith, who also claimed £10,000 in expenses from the Environment Agency last year, acknowledged that he had “clocked in”. However, he said he had been dealing with Lords-related correspondence on Wednesday and Thursday which would justify claiming the allowance. He said the events he attended on Tuesday and Thursday related to his position as a peer and his work for the Environment Agency, and qualified as Lords work.
Smith said: “This is the way that the allowance system operates. You register attendance in the chamber, you may well stay on to listen to or participate in debates, as I sometimes do, or you may go off to other meetings in the palace of Westminster or to work in your parliamentary office. Attendance in the chamber is not the only mark of participation.”
The rules on allowances state: “The basic principle underlying the scheme is that the entitlement to recover expenses arises only in respect of attendance at sittings of the House (in the chamber) or its committees.”
You can read more from The Sunday Times at: www.sundaytimes.co.uk
Now it’s been known for some time that the regime in the Lords is just a lax as the one in the House of Commons – but the paper has lifted the lid off the scandal that allows their lordships to claim generous tax free allowances - just for signing in at their place of ‘work’
The ST’s insight team tracked Chris Smith (now Lord Smith of Finsbury) - a former Labour culture minister who earns £220,000 a year from two quango jobs who and claims more than £20,000 a year for attending the Lords — all within the rules.
Here’s summary of the paper’s report from Sunday 19 July 2009:
“It took Lord Smith of Finsbury exactly 10 minutes to walk in and out of the House of Lords on Wednesday evening. He went straight to the chamber and stood near the door listening to the debate for four minutes before leaving.
The quick visit meant he could claim £161.50 for attending the house that day. He had, in his own words, “clocked in” for his daily and office allowance.
The day before, he had spent three minutes in the chamber, and on Thursday less than one minute. In those three days he did not speak in the house, did not vote or ask any written questions.
On Friday Lord Tyler, a Liberal Democrat spokesman on constitutional reform, said there could be up to 100 peers who popped in and out of the chamber to claim allowances.
He said: “There is a great deal of frustration among the more active members of the house about the way in which the system is open to exploitation.”
Peers claim allowances by attending a select committee or entering the chamber while the house is sitting, where they must attract the attention of a clerk who ticks off their name. Many claim the maximum, which is £86.50 for day subsistence, £75 for office costs and £174 for staying overnight in London.
The Sunday Times has monitored the Lords on a number of days in the past six months. Typically between 10 to 50 peers entered the chamber for less than five minutes each day.
Our reporters saw politicians loitering next to the benches waiting to be given the nod by the clerk. Some later claimed they were working on Lords business elsewhere in the house.
We decided to monitor Smith in the Lords last week because he had been spotted nipping in and out of the chamber and he has substantial commitments outside parliament.
Smith has taken on a number of jobs since becoming a peer in 2005 and divides his time between two chairmanships: for the Environment Agency three days a week and for the Advertising Standards Authority 2 1/2 days a week.
Since November last year he has spoken in one debate, not submitted any questions and taken part in only nine out of 62 votes. However, the records show he normally appeared in the chamber on 80% of days that the house was sitting. On these days he claimed day subsistence and office costs but not accommodation, because his main home is in London.
On Tuesday, Smith spent most of his day in his Environment Agency office before leaving in his car at 6.30pm. He parked in the peers’ car park and attended a drinks reception in the House of Lords held by Thames 21, an environmental charity. After drinks, he popped into the chamber for three minutes and then immediately left the house for a dinner hosted by Natural England, an environment quango.
On Wednesday, Smith was in his Environment Agency office from lunchtime until 7.30pm when he drove to the House of Lords, popped into the chamber and drove off within 10 minutes. On Thursday, he entered the chamber for less than a minute. He later headed across the road to Portcullis House to give a speech on climate change.
This weekend Smith, who also claimed £10,000 in expenses from the Environment Agency last year, acknowledged that he had “clocked in”. However, he said he had been dealing with Lords-related correspondence on Wednesday and Thursday which would justify claiming the allowance. He said the events he attended on Tuesday and Thursday related to his position as a peer and his work for the Environment Agency, and qualified as Lords work.
Smith said: “This is the way that the allowance system operates. You register attendance in the chamber, you may well stay on to listen to or participate in debates, as I sometimes do, or you may go off to other meetings in the palace of Westminster or to work in your parliamentary office. Attendance in the chamber is not the only mark of participation.”
The rules on allowances state: “The basic principle underlying the scheme is that the entitlement to recover expenses arises only in respect of attendance at sittings of the House (in the chamber) or its committees.”
You can read more from The Sunday Times at: www.sundaytimes.co.uk
