Question to the Cabinet Office:

To ask His Majesty's Government what plans they have to amend the Ministerial and Other Salaries Order 2008 to ensure that holding ministerial office in the House of Lords is not predicated on access to a private income in order to maintain a standard of living commensurate with those roles and responsibilities.

There are no current plans to amend the legislation governing ministerial salaries.

Ministerial salaries are constrained by the Ministerial and other Salaries Act which sets cumulative limits on the total number of salaries that can be allocated to ministers.

Under successive governments a small number of ministers across the Commons and the Lords have been unpaid. The distribution of salaries between ministers in the House of Commons and the House of Lords is a matter for the Prime Minister, who is responsible for the overall organisation of the Executive.