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Exclusive: The number of paid ministerial roles is to increase as part of new government reforms to be announced on Thursday.
The government is set to bring forward legislation permitting an additional 11 ministerial roles to be paid with a salary, PoliticsHome understands.
The reforms, which are expected to be brought forward today by Paymaster General Nick Thomas-Symonds, are designed to bring the total number of paid ministerial roles in line with the average size of government since 2010, which is around 120 ministers. Under current legislation, the limit is 109.
As things stand, 12 ministers in the Labour government serve without pay.
The new salaries are expected to be largely allocated to ministers in the House of Lords, who are often seen as experts in their fields.
The government is expected to argue that it is not right that a number of ministerial roles favour those who have the financial means to fulfill them without a salary.
A government source told PoliticsHome: “The current Cabinet has the highest proportion of state-educated members in history, and the Prime Minister believes that ministerial office should not be reserved for those wealthy enough to fund it for themselves.”
Ministers will also argue that the reforms will help improve transparency by ending the practice of ‘borrowing’ whips’ salaries to fund departmental roles, which successive governments have used when organising their payroll.
The salaries themselves are expected to remain at the same level.
