Work of the House of Lords

This House of Lords Library Briefing presents historical statistics on the membership, attendance and activities of the House of Lords up until the end of the 2016–17 session (the latest complete session available). The figures presented have been collected by the House of Lords.

• There has been a consistent increase in the actual (the number of Members eligible to attend) and absolute membership (the total number of Members). This has risen from 690 and 693 respectively at the end of the 1999–2000 session, to 802 and 835 at the end of the 2016–17 session. As at 14 February 2019, the actual size of the House was 785 and the absolute size of the House was 807.
• The proportion of women in the House of Lords has increased over time, with women making up 26 percent of the absolute size of the House at the end of the 2016–17 session.
• There has been a general increase in average daily attendance over time. In 1999–2000 average daily attendance was 352, and in
  2016–17 it was 484.
• The average number of Members participating in divisions has also increased markedly from 209 in 1999–2000 to 396 in 2016–17.
• There has been an increase in the number of questions for written answer over time. In 2016–17 there were 6,872.
• There has been an increase in the number of private members’ bills passing through the House of Lords over time, attributable to an increase in the number of bills introduced in the House of Lords, rather than an increase in those coming from the House of Commons.
• In the 2016–17 session the House of Lords made a total of
  2,234 amendments to government bills, an average of 89 per bill. Between 1997–98 and 2016–17, the House of Lords made an average of 68 amendments to each government bill considered.

Many of the changes and variations in the data may be linked by common factors, especially the size of the House in a given session. Where possible this briefing seeks to aid understanding of the data by plotting data on a per Member or per sitting day basis.