Members of the House of Lords have approved changes to their allowance system that will grant them up to £100 per night to cover overnight stays in London for parliamentary business.
Peers already receive a daily allowance of £342 to cover their expenses, including travel, when heading to Westminster.
And rule changes in 2010 following the parliamentary expenses scandal stated they were expected to use this cash to pay for any accommodation.
But the new system means they can claim up to an additional £100 towards the cost of “hotels, clubs or similar accommodation” – though members were warned parliament’s authorities would “come down hard, very hard” on those who abused the system.
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Peers who live in London will not be entitled to the additional allowance and receipts will have to be required to claim the money.
The new system will come into force after the Easter recess, when members return to continue their scrutiny of the government’s Rwanda plan.
However, the allowance is less than half of that given to MPs, who can claim hotel costs of up to £210 a night when they come to London for work.
Leader of the House of Lords, Lord True, said parliament’s upper chamber “must be accessible to all, regardless of financial status and location”.
He added: “We have become far too much a House of the south-east of England. It’s not right that some may be deterred from coming to this House because attendance would impose a significant financial burden on them.
“I do believe that the proposal strikes a balance. We must all be mindful that money we spend in this place is not our own.”
Scottish Labour peer Lord McConnell said the change was “long overdue”, while Liberal Democrat peer Lord Newby said it would “relieve real problems for a significant number of members who have been coming and in some cases have been out of pocket”.
House of Lords authorities were unable to say how much the new allowance was expected to cost the taxpayer.
