House of Lords ‘should remove 200 peers and impose a cap’

THE House of Lords needs to axe 200 peers and place an overall cap on membership of the upper chamber, a committee of MPS has recommended.

The number of Lords should be limited to 600, according to Sir Bernard Jenkin, the chairman of the public administration and constitutional affairs select committee.

A report by the committee calls for urgent action to address the ballooning size of the House of Lords, arguing its growing membership is affecting its ability to function effectively.

Sir Bernard, a Conservative MP, said Westminster’s revising chamber could not be allowed to grow “exponentially” and a reduction in numbers was the “obvious step” to take.

He said: “The House of Lords is of vital importance to the UK’S political system, carrying out important scrutiny and revising functions, but it is a problem that the size of the Chamber continues to grow exponentially.

“We are calling for the number of peers to be reduced, and then capped at 600, as recommended in the Burns report. The Government and other party leaders must seize this moment of consensus.”

A rapid reduction in numbers could be achieved with a commitment to a “two-out-one-in” policy, the MPS said.

They also recommended the creation of an appointing body to justify appointments – which should be allocated to parties according to their vote share in the previous general election.

A proposal to introduce a 15-year term for newly appointed peers was a “desirable but not essential” part of the recommended reforms, according to Sir Bernard.