The Scots Lords Bill

Peers are entitled to claim a variety of allowances and expenses in the course of their work. They can claim up to £300 per day for attending the House of Lords, tax free. They can also claim an allowance for undertaking work outside the House of Lords. In addition, they can claim travel expenses for business class travel between their registered address and the House of Lords and they can claim further travel expenses for their spouse and family to travel to Westminster six times per year. Twelve of the 64 active peers resident in Scotland are hereditary peers.

Peers can opt to receive a loan of two computers and a PDA from parliamentary authorities as well.Sixty four peers living in Scotland shared a payout of £1.83m from tax payers in just one year, The Ferret can reveal.

The three most expensive Lords were all Liberal Democrats. They were the only Scottish peers to receive more than £50,000 each in one year. On average, peers claimed £28,528 each, or £346.38 for each day worked. Each person typically signed in to the House of Lords for 78 days in the last 12 month period for which records are available, August 2014 to July 2015. The most active peer, Lord Purvis, attended for 128 days. Collectively, peers spent £287,896 on air travel between Scotland and London, a figure described as “disappointing” and “excessive” by critics. They also spent £28,776 on taxis, parking and bridge tolls.

Former Deputy First Minister of Scotland Lord Stephen is the most expensive peer living in Scotland. He claimed £56,274 in 12 months. He is the Liberal Democrat principal spokesperson on Scotland in the House of Lords. He has financial interests in a number of renewable energy firms active in Scotland and cites an interest in ‘Energy and the Environment’ on his parliamentary web page. In 2012, Lord Stephen ran into criticism after he made £110,000 from selling a home he bought in Edinburgh. Whilst he was an MSP, he claimed around £70,000 towards mortgage payments and the other maintenance costs of the home through expense claims to the Scottish Parliament. In 2013, he was forced to issue an apology after the Privileges and Conduct Committee found that he had omitted to declare some directorships and shareholdings in the Register of Interests.

Lord Steel of Aikwood was the second most expensive peer resident in Scotland. He claimed £52,769 in a year and was the only Scottish peer to claim more than £20,000 for travel between his home and London. He lives in the Scottish Borders. Before entering the House of Lords he was the Presiding Officer of the Scottish Parliament for four years. Prior to this he was a Member of Parliament at Westminster from 1965 to 1997.

Liberal Democrat peer, Lord Purvis of Tweed, was the third most expensive peer. He claimed £52,241. During this period, he acted as the Liberal Democrat principal spokesperson for energy and climate change in the House of Lords for one month. A former Borders MSP, he claimed £9,126 worth of air fares for travelling between his home in the Borders and London.

Labour peer Lord Foulkes, claimed £49,943. The former MP, MSP, and Hearts of Midlothian Football Club chairman, is currently also the Honorary Treasurer of a campaign group that brings “legislators together to combat climate change,” called Climate Parliament. He spent £11,951 on air travel between Edinburgh and London in twelve months.

Two hereditary peers living in Scotland came out as the most expensive to the tax payer, if their claims are adjusted to take account of how many days they each spent in the House of Lords.

The Earl of Stair claimed the equivalent of £759 for each of the 13 days he spent in the House of Lords over 12 months. The peer, who owns land in Dumfries and Galloway and the Stranraer & Wigtownshire Free Press, claimed £6873 in travel expenses. He is a member of one committee in the House of Lords; the Refreshment Committee.

The Earl of Dundee, claimed the equivalent of £510 for each of the 97 days he attended the House of Lords. He lives in Birkhill Castle and owns forestry, farmland and residential property in Fife and Angus.

https://theferret.scot/scottish-peers-expenses/