Banquets at the House of Lords, 2007-08

Baroness Symons, a former Labour minister and a director of British Airways, has been giving the airline access to the House of Lords’ private dining facilities so it can entertain its most profitable customers.

She is one of more than a dozen peers who have been booking the dining rooms to entertain companies for whom they work, leading to complaints that firms are paying peers for access to the Lords’ facilities in the Palace of Westminster.

According to documents seen by The Sunday Times, Symons, who was last year paid £39,000 by BA, booked one of the Lords’ private dining rooms seven times in 2007 so the airline could wine and dine its most loyal business customers.

The meals provide BA with the chance to impress customers who hold gold and silver frequent flier cards with a lunch in one of Britain’s most exclusive institutions.

This weekend the practice provoked accusations that peers are abusing their position to use the Lords as a corporate dining club. “Parliament should not be used as an exotic restaurant for hire and peers should not be facilitating this,” said Norman Baker, a Liberal Democrat MP.

One senior member of the upper house said: “Peers who book a string of dinners for businesses should think long and hard about their conduct. Are they being paid for their advice, or for access and ambience?”

Peers can book the rooms without charge although companies have to pay for the meals, which, excluding wine, cost about £40 a head for three courses with silver service waiters.

Most peers use the rooms for charitable work or private functions such as wedding receptions. However, some peers say the rooms are increasingly being used as a corporate perk, squeezing out other events.

One of the most popular is the Cholmondeley Room which allows guests to walk onto the terrace and admire the Thames. Similar banqueting venues such as Hampton Court cost £4,000 to hire, excluding food.

The official list of Lords banqueting events shows Lord Oxburgh, chairman of the biofuels company D1 Oils, hosted a lunch last year attended by Stephen Ladyman, then transport minister. The firm denied it was a lobbying event.

Lord Wright, an independent peer who is a consultant with De La Rue, which prints bank notes, held three lunches for ambassadors from countries with an interest in printing contracts.

“De La Rue has made a practice of entertaining new heads of mission in London, ambassadors and high commissioners, being a company which does a lot of work with foreign governments,” said Wright. De La Rue insisted the lunches were open and helped promote trade.

Lord Sawyer, a former Labour general secretary who receives about £45,000 a year as a director with the Britannia Building Society, booked a room in the Lords last year for its “chairman’s lunch” for business partners and the Financial Services Authority, the industry watchdog. A company spokesman said it went to the Lords “because it is a nice prestigious and different place to hold an event”.

Baroness Hooper, a Tory peer, held a reception in the Cholmondeley Room in January last year for Barclays Private Equity. She is chairman of the advisory committee at Barclays European Infrastructure Fund, part of the company.

In November, Lord Faulkner, a Labour peer, hosted an evening reception for Sunvil holidays, a travel group. Faulkner is chairman of Travel PR, which lists Sunvil as one of its clients. He said: “Sunvil’s is a company which is run by a good friend of mine and he was inviting his customers and guests.

“The rules are quite clear, and providing one is not being paid a fee it’s entirely within the rules. There’s no conflict of interest.”

There is no suggestion the peers were gaining financially from booking the rooms. When reserving them, they have to sign a declaration that they are not receiving a fee and stating whether they have a financial interest relating to the sponsorship of the function.

BA said its events were social. “They are events where we get to know their needs and wants and then let them know anything new taking place at BA. It’s an opportunity to meet with some of our best customers. It’s a commercial decision to hold these lunches and we would rather not reveal how much they cost.”

Symons said: “There have never been any questions raised about these arrangements but I am happy to discuss any issues with the House authorities.”

Additional reporting: Roger Waite

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