Abuses of Lords passes 'must end'

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The government has promised to put an end to any abuse of the parliamentary pass system by House of Lords members.

The Times newspaper reported that peers had secured passes for lobbyists and pressure groups who pay them.

The passes, giving access to the Palace of Westminster and its facilities, are supposed to be issued to secretaries and researchers.

Leader of the Lords Baroness Ashton said any "abuses" would be "investigated and stamped out".

Register

The Times used information obtained under the Freedom of Information Act to name several peers, who had industry representatives on their list of "staff" holding passes.

Unlike MPs, peers are not bound by rules about who they can give passes to, and say they have done nothing wrong.

But a Lords privilege committee report out this week will recommend a register of secretaries and researchers for whom the passes are intended.

They allow holders access to ministers, MPs, bars and restaurants and are intended to be used by those working in Parliament.

But, while MPs' staff with passes have to register any outside sources of income - peers' staff are not bound by the same rules.

The House of Lords carries out legislation well Baroness Ashton

The Times listed a number of peers who had financial relationships with pressure groups representing the defence, transport, freight and legal industries.

The Leader of the Lords, Baroness Ashton of Upholland, said she would act to tackle any abuse of the system.

She added: "The House of Lords carries out legislation well. If there are any abuses of the pass system, then they will be investigated and stamped out."

Among those named was Labour peer Lord Berkeley, who is paid by and chairs the Rail Freight Group, representing 150 firms. He gave a pass to the group's development and communications manager, Neil Stevens.

But he said he had broken no rules and that the pass, used to access the parliamentary library, had now run out.

He told BBC Radio 4's Today programme all peers had the chance to use researchers to look up quotations and statistics for debates.

'Oversight'

Labour peer Lord MacKenzie of Framwellgate also said he had given a pass to someone from a group called Legal Solutions two years ago and that he was now a consultant for them.

He told the Times it had been an "oversight" that the pass had not been cancelled.

Peers have argued that they should not be subject to the same rules as MPs, as they do not receive a salary - only expenses.

However, the Lords privileges committee will call for a register of interests of assistants to be set up next year, in its report on Thursday.

Chairman Lord Brabazon has said he suspects peers have abused the passes system and wants a register of researchers and secretaries to be put in place.

Shadow culture minister Ed Vaizey said the system needed to be "cleaned up" by giving passes officially to industry bodies.