THE place of bishops in the House of Lords is expected to come under fresh scrutiny, as the Government’s latest proposals on reforming the Upper Chamber are published early in 2008. The Department of the Constitution has announced that the electorate could find itself deciding on the composition of the House of Lords within two years — including the future of the 26 seats of the Lords Spiritual.
The Government said that it wanted its comprehensive reform package to be part of New Labour’s manifesto commitment at the next General Election. But the bishops, who are convinced that their presence in the Lords benefits not just the Church but the nation, are unlikely to take the changes lying down.
“In this country, government is government by the Queen in Parliament under God. That is why every morning there are prayers, led by a bishop,” the Bishop of Winchester, the Rt Revd Scott-Joynt, told the Church Times last month.
The bishops represented local interests as well as the Church’s; they were briefed by local councillors, pressure groups, NGOs, Church House, and Lambeth Palace, although they insist that they are entirely independent of these pressures and indeed of each other. Their presence in the Lords had helped to stop the detention of suspects without trial for more than 28 days; to challenge the Government over its immigration procedures; and to influence education debates and work on the assisted-dying and human-fertility Bills, Bishop Scott-Joynt said.
One suggestion, likely to be put before the Lords before the spring, is that the bishops’ seats should be cut to 16. Both the Bishop of Southwark, Dr Tom Butler, and Bishop Scott-Joynt doubted whether the bishops could still make the same contributions if this was carried. The Bishop of Winchester said that he had spent 25 days in the Lords that year.
“The Lords is a dangerous place, and you must be well-prepared,” Bishop Scott-Joynt, said. “First, it is hard, time-consuming work. It’s a real effort for most of us. Its short notice and it means rejigging our diaries.” Debates went long into the night. But the result
was that the Church got better-educated bishops.
Better an episcopate that was over-engaged politically than one that was narrowly pietistic, he said. “The bishops specifically and the Church generally would have a less easy correspondence with and entré to government and with the nation” without their place in the Lords. “My impression is we are regarded as punching above our weight.”
The Bishop said that he had a special interest in marriage, gender, and constitutional issues, as well as Central Africa and Israel/ Palestine. “I have been putting in a great deal of work on asylum-seekers’ deportation with the Bishop of Ripon & Leeds and with input from the Archbishop of York on the UK Borders Bill.”
Three times a year, the Lords Spiritual have their own meeting at the House of Bishops, to review the legislative territory ahead. They are not whipped, and are free to make whatever interventions they choose.
They also needed to make sure they were above reproach when drawing expenses, Bishop Scott-Joynt said. “Expenses are a delicate issue at present. There has been a rumpus about peers’ claiming the maximum expenses. My own practice is to claim reimbursements, for train fares, meals taxis, tubes, and overnight accommodation, if I have to stay overnight. I think most of my colleagues do too. The bishops will be found to be playing fair with the system,” he said.
The Bishop of Southwark said that he claimed his allowances and paid any surplus into his discretionary fund, to help out clergy and others in need.