The 100-Year Life Health Education and Government
A small number of peers accounts for a large share of travel expenses
The taxpayer has covered more than £1.5 million in air travel costs for peers over the last parliament, half of which was claimed by just 14 people.
Total travel expenses claimed by peers since December 2019 reached £5.4 million, of which flights accounted for nearly a third. Rail, ferry and coach costs accounted for £2.53 million, while just over £1 million was expensed for car journeys. In addition, nearly £300,000 was claimed for taxis, tolls and parking.
Although a category exists for motorbike expenses, nothing was claimed for this method of transport (the average age of peers is 72).
While nearly 400 peers did not claim for any travel expenses at all, some of their colleagues are particularly frequent fliers.
Lord Cunningham of Felling tops the list for total expenses claimed, at nearly £85,000 over the four-and-a-half year period, of which £72,700 was for air travel. He attended parliament 480 times out of a possible 700 sitting days, speaking in the chamber just over 30 times.
Cunningham, a Northumberland-based Labour peer, has claimed flight expenses for every month since November 2010. He is also one of nine peers who has claimed a five-figure allowance for attendance during sustained periods without speaking, voting or taking part in any select committees.
Lord Rogan, who is based in Northern Ireland, claimed £84,000 in travel expenses over the last parliament, of which £78,000 was for flights, while his fellow Ulster Unionist Lord Kilclooney claimed £67,000 in total, of which £61,000 was air travel.
Kilclooney told Tortoise his expenses were “likely to be one of the largest in the UK as there is no rail connection and I could not swim from NI to England”.
Kilclooney is one of a handful of peers to have claimed attendance expenses for extended periods without any discernible parliamentary activity.
Lord Trees claimed £71,000 of travel expenses, while attending just over half the available sitting days. He told Tortoise he was travelling from Scotland and that the total claimed “reflect the distance I am from London”.
He added: “Needless to say, these travel expenses are necessary to enable me to carry out my function in Parliament, to bring expertise to the role of the House in scrutinising legislation (a function that is not well carried out by the House of Commons).”
Lord McFall, speaker of the upper chamber who is also based in Scotland, claimed nearly £62,000 in flights while Lord Walney, the government’s adviser on anti-extremism under both the Tories and Labour, claimed more than £52,000.
A spokesperson for the House of Lords said: “Inevitably Members attending the House from areas of the UK further from London will incur higher travel costs. It is important that voices from all parts of the UK are not excluded from attending by prohibitive costs. All claims for journeys on public transport require documentation of the cost incurred.
“The Lord Speaker and Senior Deputy Speaker, as office holders, routinely attend the House as well as attending other official events on behalf of the House. As with all Members their travel costs are published regularly on the parliamentary website.”
Travel expenses are paid in addition to the daily tax-free allowance of £323 which peers may claim every time they “check in”.
On top of the travel costs, this came to nearly £65 million. The Peer Review tool shows multiple instances of lords claiming this allowance during periods in which no parliamentary activity has been recorded.
Photograph House of Lords 2024 / photography by Annabel Moeller