As part of the attempts to reform the House of Lords, it has been decided that Peers should be given the opportunity to leave. At the moment, Peers may, if hereditary, renounce their Peerage. They may also go on leave of absence, a state which can be reversed at any moment, although it is generally a prelude to informity or death. As part of the reforms proposed by David Steel over many years, a working group has been set up to look at some options for clearing the benches...
House of Lords: Working Practices
Statement
The Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster (Lord Strathclyde): Further to the announcements I made on 29 June (Hansard, col. 1667) and 12 July (Hansard col. 514) I have set up two Leader's Groups.
A first Leader's Group, chaired by Lord Hunt of Wirral, has been appointed to identify options for allowing Members to leave the House of Lords permanently. Baroness Scott of Needham Market, Lord Hunt of Kings Heath, Baroness Farrington of Ribbleton, Baroness Murphy and Baroness Sharples have agreed to serve on the group...
The problem I foresee is this. How do you persuade people to go before they are too infirm to attend without some sort of incentive? And given the hesitation about financial inducements, is it even possible to offer a meaningful incentive? The gender balance is interesting though...
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