A quarter ofWelsh MPs employ relatives in office
AQUARTER of Welsh MPs use public money to hire relatives in their office, we can reveal. MPs will be banned from hiring relatives using taxpayers’ cash after the next general election, under plans published by the parliamentary expenses watchdog.
The watchdog’s new rules say that no new “connected parties” will be able to be employed in politicians’ offices from the start of the next parliament in 2020.
But the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) said it would not force MPs to sack individuals who are currently working for them.
Ten of Wales’ 40 MPs currently hire members, six Welsh Conservative MPs and four Labour MPs. None of Plaid Cymru’s three MPs featured on the list as the party changed its rules to forbid the practice in 2015.
In 2009 an independent report recommended that the appointment of family members by Assembly Members should be stopped, but that has not yet happened.
The Scottish Parliament phased out the practice of members hiring relatives after a similar report in 2009.
Members of the European Parliament are also banned from hiring people to whom they are related.
Last May a report by the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority found the cost to the public of MPs hiring family members was £4.7m a year.
The same report found family members employed by MPs were paid on average £5,600 more than the average member of staff.
Last month we revealed that almost a quarter of Assembly Members – including two party leaders and a minister – employ members of their immediate families to work for them in the Senedd.
Ukip group leader Neil Hamilton employs his celebrity wife, Christine, to work for him 37 hours a week as a personal assistant, while Welsh Conservatives leader Andrew RT Davies has employed his wife, Julia, in a similar role since 2007.
Labour minister for social services and public health Rebecca Evans employs both her husband, Paul, and her sister, Claire, in her office.
She is not the only AM who employs two family members in their office. Tory Mohammad Asghar has hired both his wife and daughter to work alongside him.
IPSA chairman Ruth Evans said: “We have decided to end funding for new employees who are related to MPs from the next General Election onwards. We believe that the employment of ‘connected parties’ is out of step with modern employment practice, which requires fair and open recruitment to encourage diversity in the workplace.”
John O’Connell, chief executive of the TaxPayers’ Alliance, said: “Taxpayers want to see the best people getting these jobs. It may well be the case that the most suitable candidates happen to be related to the MPs, but it’s crucial that the recruitment process is transparent.”