MPs pay £3m in salaries to family members

MPs are still paying nearly £3million of public money to family members despite attempts by the new expenses watchdog to tighten up the system, analysis by the Bureau can reveal.

Nearly a fifth of all MPs still employ members of their family, despite wide criticism of the practice during the expenses scandal.

The 136 MPs who continue to pay salaries to ‘connected parties’ employ them in roles including office manager, secretary, and parliamentary assistant, according to figures collected by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) for the financial year 2010-2011.

More than 40 family members were paid £30,000 or above, and six received between £40,000 and £44,999. Those paying relatives include 27 new MPs.

Sir Christopher Kelly, chairman of the Committee on Standards in Public Life caled for ISPA to look again at allowing the practice amid fears that it could be abused.

‘In our report the Committee recommended that MPs should no longer be able to employ family members at taxpayer’s expense. Although we heard plenty of evidence during our inquiry that many spouses and family members were doing a good job … we continue to be concerned about the potential for abuse – perceived or otherwise – which this creates and we hope that IPSA will keep this under review.’

The six MPs who paid out the highest include:

Tom Harris, who employed his wife Carolyn as office manager

Peter Bone, who employed his wife Jeanette as office manager

Sir Alan Haselhurst, who employed his wife Lady Angela Haselhurst as office manager

Stephen Hammond, who employed his wife Sally as senior parliamentary assistant

Graham Brady, who employed his wife Victoria Lowther as senior parliamentary assistant

Christopher Chope, who employed his wife Christine as secretary

Employing a relative is one of the most controversial practices still allowed under the changed expenses rules.


In 2009 the Committee on Standards in Public Life, headed by Sir Christopher Kelly, recommended a ban on the practice as it was ‘not consistent with modern employment practice designed to ensure fairness in recruitment, management of staff and remuneration; and it will always carry with it a suspicion of abuse.’

Then-prime minister Gordon Brown accepted the report’s conclusions, but the head of IPSA Sir Ian Kennedy later said one family member per MP can be employed.

Both MPs who currently sit on the Committee’s board, Oliver Heald and Margaret Beckett, employ family member.

Three MPs employed more than one relative in 2010-11, including Sir Peter Soulsby who employed his wife and two daughters. This is within the rules if the family members were employed before the 2010 election and are not replaced when they leave.

Sir Peter has since stepped down as an MP to become the mayor of Leicester.

Laurence Robertson, Conservative MP for Tewkesbury, employed both his estranged wife and his new partner at a combined cost of at least £55,000. He declined to comment on this situation.

Sir Stuart Bell’s wife was paid over £35,000 as office manager, although he has no constituency office. The Evening Gazette in Middlesborough recently reported that no-one had answered the phone at his home or Westminster office despite them making 100 attempts over several months.

Information on salaries is only published in bands, but the total amount paid to MPs’ families last year was between £2.8m and £3.5m. Twenty-seven new MPs employed a relative.

Most of the family members are wives or husbands, but eight sons or daughters were employed. Others include a niece, daughter-in-law, and even a mother.

Sir Christopher Kelly added that the expenses system should be ‘beyond any suspicion of abuse’.

The Speaker of the House of Commons, John Bercow, has previously said he supports a ban.

Last year’s figures are lower than those paid out at the height of the MPs’ expenses scandal, when up to £5.8m was paid to family members. But many will feel the bill is still too high.

Graham Brady MP, who employs his wife Victoria Lowther as senior parliamentary assistant, said: ‘All my staff are employed on the appropriate pay scales reflecting their experience, qualifications and responsibilities.’

Sally Hammond, who earns between £40,000 and £44,999 as senior parliamentary assistant to her husband Stephen, defended her arrangement. She told the Bureau: ‘I have twenty-five years of experience of working for Members of Parliament and our arrangements conform to all IPSA requirements.’

http://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/2011/09/07/mps-pay-3m-in-salaries-to-family-members/

 

Who's raking it in ? Is your MP on the list ? (Mine is !)

In alphabetical order of first names.

Adrian Bailey: Jill Bailey £9,999
Adrian Sanders: Alison Sanders £29,999
Aidan Burley: Jodie Jones £29,999
Alan Campbell: Jayne Campbell £4,999
Alan Haselhurst: Angela Margaret £44,999
Alan Meale: Diana Gilhespy £19,999
Albert Owen: Samuel Blyth £29,999
Alec Shelbrooke: Susan Shelbrooke £14,999
Alex Cunningham: John Cunningham £9,999
Alistair Burt: Eve Burt £39,999
Andrew George: Jill George £4,999
Andrew Miller: Frances Miller £29,999
Andrew Robathan: Rachel Robathan £24,999
Andrew Smith: Valerie Smith £14,999
Andrew Turner: Carole Dennett £19,999
Angela Smith: Steven Wilson £39,999
Angus MacNeil: Jane MacNeil £24,999
Angus Robertson: Carron Anderson £29,999
Annette Brooke: Eleanor Perera £4,999
Barry Gardiner: Caroline Smith £24,999
Ben Wallace: Liza Wallace £24,999
Bill Cash: Bridget Cash £29,999
Bob Ainsworth: Gloria J Ainsworth £14,999
Bob Blackman: Nicola Blackman £34,999
Brian Donohoe: Christine Donohoe £24,999
Caroline Flint: Phil Cole £39,999
Cathy Jamieson: Ian Sharpe £14,999
Charles Walker: Fiona Walker £29,999
Cheryl Gillan: John Leeming £19,999
Chris Grayling: Susan Grayling £39,999
Chris Ruane: Gillian Roberts £24,999
Chris Williamson: Margaret Amsbury £29,999
Christopher Chope: Christine Chope £49,999
Clive Betts: James Thomas £34,999
Craig Whittaker: Sophie Whittaker £19,999
Dan Jarvis: Rachel Brookes £9,999
Dan Rogerson: Heidi Rogerson £9,999
Daniel Poulter: Carol Poulter £39,999
David Amess: Julia Amess £19,999
David Burrowes: Rebecca Chard £39,999
David Crausby: Enid Crausby £39,999
David Davies: Aliz Harnisfoger-Davies £9,999
David Davis: Doreen Margery Davis £34,999
David Hamilton: Jean Hamilton £29,999
David Mundell: Oliver Mundell £29,999
Dennis Skinner: Lois Blasenheim £39,999
Derek Twigg: Mary Twigg £29,999
Desmond Swayne: Moira Swayne £9,999
Diana Johnson: Kevin Morton £39,999
Frank Roy: Ellen Roy £4,999
Gareth Johnson: Wendy Johnson £14,999
Gary Streeter: Janet Vanessa Streeter £14,999
Gavin Williamson: Joanne Williamson £4,999
George Howarth: Julie Howarth £34,999
George Young: Camilla Young £34,999
Glenda Jackson: Clare Fletcher £9,999
Glyn Davies: Bobbie Davies £19,999
Graham Brady: Victoria Lowther £44,999
Graham Evans: Cheryl Evans £24,999
Graham Stringer: Eleanor Carr £29,999
Graham Stuart: Niki Roberts £34,999
Graham Morris: Michelle Morris £14,999
Greg Knight: Janet Knight £24,999
Gregory Campbell: Frances Campbell £19,999
Helen Grant: Simon Grant £9,999
Helen Jones: Michael Vobe £39,999
Henry Bellingham: Emma Bellingham £14,999
Henry Smith: Jennifer Lois Millar-Smith £24,999
Hilary Benn: Sally Clark £24,999
Hugo Swire: Alexandra Sasha Swire £34,999
Hywel Francis: Mair Francis £44,999
Iain McKenzie: Alison McKenzie £4,999
Iain Wright: Tiffany Wright £29,999
Ian Davidson: Morag MacKinnon £34,999
Ian Lavery: Hilary Lavery £24,999
Ian Liddell-Grainger: Jill Liddell-Grainger £34,999
Ian Lucas: Noah Lucas £9,999
Ian Murray: Hannah Woolfson £9,999
Ian Swales: Anne Marie Swales £9,999
Jackie Doyle-Price: Mark Steven Coxshall £19,999
James Gray: Phillipa Gray £34,999
James Paice: Ava Paice £14,999
Jeffry Donaldson: Eleanor Donaldson £24,999
Jim Dobbin: Mary Dobbin £34,999
Jim Hood: Marion Stewart Hood £24,999
Jim Sheridan: Joanne Riley £29,999
Joe Benton: Doris Benton £24,999
John Healey: Jackie Bate £14,999
John Mann: Joanna White £34,999
John Robertson: Laura Robertson £4,999
John Stevenson: Tracy Nixon £9,999
Julian Brazier: Katharine Elizabeth Brazier £19,999
Julie Elliott: Miles Elliott £24,999
Karen Bradley: Neil Bradley £44,999
Karl McCartney: Cordelia McCartney £39,999
Kelvin Hopkins: Patricia Hopkins £14,999
Kevin Barron: Andree Deane £14,999
Laurence Robertson: Anne Marie Adams £44,999
Lee Scott: Estelle Scott £34,999
Liam Byrne: Sarah Harnett £9,999
Linda Riordan: Stephen Roberts £39,999
Lindsay Hoyle: Catherine Hoyle £14,999
Malcolm Bruce: Rosemary Bruce £35,000
Margaret Beckett: Lionel Beckett £30,000
Mark Garnier: Caroline Garnier £40,000
Mark Pritchard: Sondra Spaeth £45,000
Mark Simmonds: Lizbeth Simmonds £25,000
Mark Tami: Sally Tami £20,000
Martin Caton: Bethan Caton £35,000
Martin Vickers: Ann Vickers £10,000
Meg Munn: Dennis Bates £25,000
Menzies Campbell: Elspeth Cambpell £30,000, Donald Lothian £25,000
Michael Dugher: Joanna Dugher £35,000
Michael Fallon: Wendy Fallon £20,000
Michael McCann: Tracey Ann McCann £35,000
Michael Moore: Alison Moore £20,000
Mike Penning; Angela Penning £35,000
Nadine Dorries: Phillipa Dorries £45,000, Jennifer Dorries £35,000
Neil Parish: Susan Parish £20,000
Nigel Adams: Claire Adams £20,000
Oliver Heald: Christine Heald £40,000
Owen Paterson: Rose Paterson £35,000
Patrick McLoughlin: Lynn McLoughlin £40,000
Patrick Mercer: Susan Gray £40,000
Paul Beresford: Julie Beresford £30,000
Paul Farrelly: Victoria Perry £5,000
Paul Flynn: Lynne Flynn £20,000
Peter Aldous: Mark Bee £10,000
Peter Bone: Jeanette Bone £50,000
Phil Wilson: Margaret Brown £40,000
Philip Davies: Deborah Davies £25,000
Phillip Lee: Anthony Lee £10,000
Rehman Chishti: Nusrat Ahmed £25,000
Richard Ottaway: Nicola Ottaway £15,000
Richard Shepherd: Davida Catleugh £40,000
Robert Buckland: Sian Reed £5,000
Robert Goodwill: Maureen Goodwill £20,000
Roger Gale: Susan Gale £40,000
Ronnie Campbell: Deirdre Campbell £15,000
Russell Brown: Gillian Carey £25,000
Sharon Hodgson: Alan Hodgson £35,000
Simon Danczuk: Karen Burke £30,000
Simon Hart: Abigail Hart £25,000
Stephen Crabb: Beatrice Crabb £20,000
Stephen Gilbert: Jaqueline Bull £15,000
Stephen Hammond: Sally Hammond £45,000
Stephen Pound: Maggie Pound £25,000
Teresa Pearce: Paul O’Neill £10,000
Tim Loughton: Elizabeth Loughton £10,000
Tom Harris: Carolyn Harris £35,000
Tony Lloyd: Angharad Lloyd £10,000
Valerie Vaz: Paul Townsend £40,000
William McCrea: Robert Watters £25,000
Yvonne Fovargue: Paul Kenny £25,000

http://order-order.com/

 

Classic abuse of power. Damn these people, why do we vote them in?

 

A very sick joke.

 

Just struck me as interesting that so many are a pound short....24,999 etc.

Is that an extra tax dodge of some kind ?