My Lords, with the leave of the House, I wish to make a Statement.

Last year, when the House came under some scrutiny in relation to both Members’ conduct and Members’ expenses, I undertook to keep the House informed about major and relevant developments in this area. That is the purpose of my Statement today.

Although uninformed criticism seeks to paint this House as resistant to change, this House has embraced sensible change, including the Life Peerages Act 1958, proposed by the party opposite, and the House of Lords Act 1999, proposed by this side of the House. I can confirm the Government’s intention to bring forward proposals for further reform of your Lordships’ House.

In relation to financial support for Members of this House, a week today the House will debate proposals from the House Committee for long-term and permanent reform of the designation and declaration of Members’ principal residences. The proposals are drawn from the work of the all-party ad hoc group established by your Lordships’ House and chaired by the noble Lord, Lord Wakeham, following a review of financial support for Members of this House carried out by the independent Senior Salaries Review Body. The ad hoc group has been dealing with some very difficult issues and is now considering further matters referred to it by the leaders in this House and by the Clerk of the Parliaments. As a result, the group’s examination of these issues is unlikely to be available until after the forthcoming general election. However, in advance of that, the House will have before it next week a rigorous definition of what constitutes a Member’s primary residence and associated requirements on declaration.

As the report from the House Committee putting forward the new proposals states, a main weakness of the current system has been the inadequacy of the definition of what constitutes a Member’s principal residence outside London. The proposals from the House Committee detail new arrangements for the future but, at the same time, the Clerk of the Parliaments has been considering a number of complaints against Members of the House under the current arrangements for Members’ expenses, which the new proposals will replace. As part of his consideration of these complaints, the Clerk of the Parliaments set out some general principles for what the minimum threshold of residence might be and he sought the endorsement of the House Committee for these principles, including what the minimum frequency of stays in a Member’s main residence should be. The criteria that he proposed were endorsed by the full House Committee on 26 January on behalf of the whole House. It is these criteria that were cited by the Director of Public Prosecutions last week in relation to a decision that he had taken in respect of a Member of this House following an investigation by the Metropolitan Police. There has been considerable media criticism following the decision by the DPP, including unfair and unjust criticism of the Clerk of the Parliaments in this House.

Hear, hear.

My Lords, I deplore the media criticism of the Clerk of the Parliaments, who is a fine, conscientious and distinguished public servant.

The changes that we will be considering next week will replace and supersede any and all previous definitions or criteria and will give this House a clear and robust system. I believe that they are valuable and important improvements and I will be strongly recommending them to the House. The systems that I hope we will have in place will be reinforced by the decision before this House tomorrow on new guidance for the code of conduct for Members of the House, which the House approved last year following the report of the Leader’s Group chaired by the noble and right reverend Lord, Lord Eames. I look forward to the House approving the new guidance tomorrow.

I know that these are difficult issues. They are issues that make many Members, including me, feel uncomfortable. However, just as we took clear and decisive action last year on issues of conduct, which led to the suspension, unprecedented in modern times, of Members of this House, so, too, we are now taking clear and decisive action on the issues surrounding Members’ principal residences. At all stages, all sides of this House have acted in concert and in agreement. I thank the leaders of the principal political parties in this House and the Convenor of the Cross Benches for their positive, constructive and consensual support. I undertake again to continue to keep this House informed of developments and I look forward to the important steps that I hope the House will now take.

My Lords, I thank the noble Baroness for making that Statement and keeping the House informed. We face an enormous issue of public confidence in the House as a result of the actions—and perceived actions—of a few. It is a terrible day when the reputation of your Lordships’ House is dragged through the mire. The overwhelming majority of Members of this House are honourable and act as such. I support the noble Baroness in the programme of action that she has outlined, which also included last year’s unprecedented exclusion of two Peers found not to have acted in accordance with the code of conduct.

We will, indeed, debate a new code of conduct tomorrow, which I trust will be supported. I also support the debate that we shall have next week on the new proposed definition of a main residence, although I regret that we will be unable to introduce a new regime for expenses this side of a general election, albeit for reasons that I understand. The expenses system that we currently have was recommended not by the House but by the SSRB. As noble Lords know, we on this side proposed a system of reform of expenses that would have swept away the regime of second homes and shut down scope for abuse, but the SSRB, in its recent report, did not support it. I therefore do not accept that all wisdom on this subject lies outside this House and I reject the widespread attacks on your Lordships’ House.

When abuse was uncovered, we moved with speed to put matters right. We must of course pay heed to public indignation and apologise for the causes, but the public should not underestimate the anger that most Peers—in what, let it not be forgotten, is an unpaid House—will feel against those guilty of abusing the trust of the House. There is a limit to what further comment I can make. Some cases will now be brought before the sub-committee on interests, where they must be heard with fairness but with the utmost rigour. I join the noble Baroness in rejecting the public attacks on the Clerk of the Parliaments, an outstanding servant of this House and a public official of the highest integrity. The Clerk of the Parliaments has, I know, tolerated no abuse; indeed, it was he who advised the House that it could revive its ancient powers to exclude Members guilty of misconduct.

As a layman, not a lawyer, I find it hard to see how a jury would not have taken a view on the whole range of factors on what constitutes a main residence, rather than a single point that, taken out of context, has received such publicity. I think that most of us know what constitutes a home and what does not. There will be grey areas, especially in a part-time, unpaid House, many of whose Members lead very different lives in recess. However, I venture to conclude with this: whatever the rights and wrongs in the small print, noble Lords who may have abused the system in any way should now examine their consciences and consider making amends for any profit that they have made in relation to what they will know, in their own minds, was not a main residence. I thank the noble Baroness the Leader of the House for keeping us informed of these matters.

My Lords, I associate myself and these Benches with both the Statement of the Leader of the House and the remarks of the Leader of the Opposition. This House has been well served by the fact that there has been no attempt by either the government or opposition sides to get into a nuclear arms race of indignation. Instead, we have addressed the difficult problem of moving from what I once described as a vaguely drawn and lightly policed system to a more precise and fit-for purpose system, which we have done with due concern for the issues at stake. We have been well served by the Leader of the House, the Lord Speaker and the Clerk of the Parliaments. I thought that the attacks on him were outrageous; the House has already indicated its feeling about those unworthy statements.

I wholly support the Statement of the Leader of the House and the actions that have been and will be taken. I also look forward very much to the debates on the reports from the Privileges Committee and the House Committee that will take place this week and next week. I look forward to contributing at that time.