There have been renewed calls for reform of the House of Lords after a newspaper survey found more than 100 peers claim a £300-a-day allowance to attend Westminster despite living within easy travelling distance.
The Daily Mail found that 124 peers who live in London have this year claimed the daily allowance, which is paid at a flat rate regardless of how far the Lord has to travel to get to Westminster or whether they have to stay overnight in a hotel to attend.
The paper highlighted cases in which peers resident in the capital have claimed thousands of pounds, including Tory Baroness Wilcox who was reported to have received £74,400 over two years.
Labour MP John Mann said the situation was "a scandal as big as the MPs' expenses scandal", with no transparency over whether peers actually do any work after signing in to claim their allowance.
A former chair of the House of Commons political reform committee, Graham Allen, said the situation highlighted the need for change to ensure the Upper House properly reflects the nations and regions of the UK.
"We don't have effective representation in the Lords of Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland but also of England - I'm from Nottingham and we don't have any peers from Nottingham," he said.
"If we were allowed to elect Lords by nation, there would be an expectation, quite rightly, that those people should have proper arrangements for travel to and accommodation near their place of work, rather than just having the House attended by rich people who live handily for Westminster."
Jonathan Isaby, chief executive of the TaxPayers Alliance, which campaigns against waste of public money, said: "The majority of peers do good work and it's important we don't tar them all with the same brush.
"That said, there are clearly times when the £300-a-day `expenses' system looks odd and there is certainly an argument that we need to look at ways to reform it and introduce better checks and balances to ensure that it isn't being abused.
"In the long run, we should be looking to encourage those peers ready for a life out of the public eye to retire, streamlining the House and making it more efficient as a monitor on the Government of the day."
A House of Lords spokesman said that the daily allowance does not relate to the cost of travelling to Westminster. Peers resident outside London can claim travel expenses separately on provision of receipts. The £300 daily allowance was introduced in 2010 to replace a previous system under which peers from outside the capital could claim a payment for staying in London overnight.
"The allowance introduced in 2010 is based on attendance, not residence," said the Lord spokesman.
"Members of the House of Lords are not paid a salary. They can claim £300 or £150 for every day they attend the House and undertake parliamentary work.
"From this allowance, members are expected to pay for any costs associated with attending the House such as their London accommodation, as well as staff cost. The total costs of Lords expenses in 2013/14 was £21.4 million, which equates to 6p a month for each UK taxpayer."
Scottish National Party MP Pete Wishart said: "It is ridiculous that Westminster has unelected peers claiming up to £300 a day just to clock in. With Tory austerity set to continue, Westminster parties need to review the system.
"At a time when there is public concern about the cost of Parliament, the Prime Minister is intending to increase the number of cronies and party donors in this bloated chamber.
"The House of Lords is a relic that can no longer be afforded in a modern democracy and it is now time for it to go.
"The SNP's long-standing position is that we believe those making laws should be elected by the people, and therefore we do not nominate members to the House of Lords."