Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, what assessment he has made of the potential merits of reducing the number of sitting peers in the House of Lords.

The House of Lords has a key role in scrutinising the executive and as a revising chamber. The Government has made no assessment of the merits of reducing the number of sitting peers and notes that unlike the Commons, peers are not full-time salaried legislators. It is important to focus on the number of peers who attend, and not just the number eligible to sit. Existing mechanisms allow sitting peers to retire or resign.