Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask the Minister for the Cabinet Office, whether (a) the Government has a planned timetable for the removal of the right for hereditary peers to sit in the House of Lords and (b) his Department has made an assessment of the potential merits of (i) ending by-elections to the House of Lords and (ii) offering life peerages to incumbent hereditary peers.

As a first step in reform of the House of Lords, the Government has introduced the House of Lords (Hereditary Peers) Bill, which will remove the right of hereditary peers to sit and vote in the House of Lords.

The Government is committed to other reforms to the House of Lords, including the introduction of a mandatory retirement age, a new participation requirement, and changes to the appointments process, as well as strengthening the circumstances in which disgraced members can be removed. There is also a long-term commitment to replace the House of Lords with an alternative second chamber that is more representative of the regions and nations. Given the nature and potential scale of these reforms, the Government will conduct engagement and consult on proposals for an alternative second chamber, seeking the input of the British public on how politics can best serve them.