Peers who fail to turn up regularly enough to the House of Lords could be kicked out of Parliament, under new committee proposals.
In its 2024 manifesto, the Labour government promised to introduce a retirement age and participation requirement for members of the upper chamber and the Lords committee was set up to recommend ways of implementing the change.
In its report, published on Wednesday, external, the committee recommended phasing in a retirement age of 80 and requiring members to attend at least 20% of sitting days.
Committee chair Baroness Taylor of Bolton said the move was a “practical solution” that would ensure the “continued effective functioning of the House”.
A government spokesperson said: “Introducing a retirement age and participation requirement to the House of Lords is a manifesto commitment, and we will therefore carefully consider the committee’s recommendations ahead of the government’s response later this year.”
There have been concern for many years about the size of the House of Lords, which currently stands at 774, making it one of the largest upper parliamentary houses in the world.
Earlier this year, the numbers were slightly reduced after 92 hereditary peers – those who inherited their place in the House of Lords from their parents – were removed, although 15 were subsequently given life peerages.
The House of Lords Retirement and Participation Committee recommended that a new retirement age of 80 should apply to all existing members “without exception”.
However, it said that in order to avoid a “cliff edge” with several peers leaving at the same time, the retirement threshold should be phased in gradually.
Under the proposals, the latest age at which a peer should retire would be set at 85 from 8 July 2029 and then reduced by one year annually eventually reaching 80 by July 2034.
New members would be asked to agree in writing that they would retire by their 80th birthday.
Currently peers are required to attend the House of Lords at least once in a session.
The committee said this was “too low and reform is necessary”. It recommended increasing the threshold to 20% of sitting days, averaged out over two sessions.
The number of days in a parliamentary session vary but over the last 10 years have been an average of around 170 days.
The committee said it recognised that “short-term absences may arise without notice in cases of emergency or on compassionate grounds”.
“Such circumstances should be taken into account to ensure that members are not inappropriately penalised for failing to meet the attendance threshold,” it said.
A House of Lords briefing has estimated, external that by July 2029, 301 life peers would be aged over 80.
The average age of the House of Lords is currently 70-years-old.
