Local News
MP Foster employs wife
Worcester MP Mike Foster has revealed he employs his wife in the latest round of MPs to register family members they employ.
The Government whip employs his wife Shauna as a part-time office manager and diary secretary.
He is among dozens more MPs who have revealed they employ spouses, lovers and other family members out of their taxpayer-funded expenses - taking the total to 144.
He is among four ministers in 38 MPs to have added their names to a new register of relatives paid from the public purse in the last fortnight.
One of David Cameron's shadow ministers has also declared that he employs both his wife, from whom he has split, as well as his new girlfriend.
Laurence Robertson, 50, who speaks for the Tories on Northern Ireland, is among only seven MPs to have declared two "family members" on his office staff.
In his case, they are his secretary wife, Susan Robertson, and his partner, Anne Marie Adams, who is listed as his part-time secretary.
Mr and Mrs Robertson, who have a teenage daughter, broke up three years ago.
Children and Schools Minister Beverley Hughes lists her daughter as staff, while Defence Minister Derek Twigg employs his wife.
Foreign Office Minister Meg Munn also declares two family members - her husband and her sister-in-law.
Three more members of the Government, including Home Secretary Jacqui Smith, to have already declared that they employ relatives.
The list was introduced as an additional column in the Register of Members' Interests following the Derek Conway scandal.
Mr Conway was stripped of the Tory whip and suspended from the Commons for 10 days for overpaying his son out of his expenses.
There is no suggestion that anybody else on the list has broken any rules.
Those whose names have appeared so far have volunteered the information as it will not become compulsory to declare such information until August.
But the employment of relatives at the taxpayer's expense has been criticised as "outdated" and for rousing suspicions that MPs are taking advantage of the system.
Under the staffing allowance, MPs can spend more than £90,000 a year on employees in their offices.
The first publication of relatives took place on April 24, when 106 MPs were on it.
Now there are 144, approaching a quarter of the 646 members of the House of Commons.
Other prominent MPs to have joined the register since it was first published last month include David Cameron's parliamentary private secretary Desmond Swayne and Tory chief whip Patrick McLoughlin.
Mr McLoughlin's wife, Lynn McLoughlin, is named as his executive secretary and office manager.
Mr Swayne's wife, Moira Swayne, performs the same job, but part-time.
Among the ministers, Ms Hughes employs her daughter, Sarah McDonald Hughes, as part-time office manager.
Mr Twigg employs his wife, Mary Twigg, as an executive secretary.
Commons guidelines say that executive secretaries and office managers can be paid up to £40,052 a year.
Ms Munn employs her husband, Dennis Bates, as a part-time researcher/parliamentary assistant (up to £34,240), and sister-in-law Deborah Stenton, as caseworker/secretarial assistant (up to £25,195).
5:49pm Thursday 8th May 2008
Print 
Email this 
CommentPosted by: Alan2, Worcester on 8:00pm Thu 8 May 08
I personally have no objection to MPs, Mr Foster or any other MP having a wife/husband who recieves remuneration for assisting their spouse. This however should not be on an "employee" basis, it should be done on the basis of a set Government allowance, paid automatically, irrespective of whether work is done or not done because few partners can have such a strange, inconvenient existence of running a home with the other spouse in London for days/weeks at a time. Like the proverbial country coppers wife, or the village doctor's wife, the local vicar etc etc. What say £20,000 pa for necessary work that flows from being the partner of another in an unusual occupation that can be compared with few others. Make it all above board, no employing relatives, friends etc. All employees to be recruited by a Parliamentary office and all salaries to be set and paid by them also. It would do away with much of the suspicion and cynicism.
I personally have no objection to MPs, Mr Foster or any other MP having a wife/husband who recieves remuneration for assisting their spouse. This however should not be on an "employee" basis, it should be done on the basis of a set Government allowance, paid automatically, irrespective of whether work is done or not done because few partners can have such a strange, inconvenient existence of running a home with the other spouse in London for days/weeks at a time. Like the proverbial country coppers wife, or the village doctor's wife, the local vicar etc etc. What say £20,000 pa for necessary work that flows from being the partner of another in an unusual occupation that can be compared with few others. Make it all above board, no employing relatives, friends etc. All employees to be recruited by a Parliamentary office and all salaries to be set and paid by them also. It would do away with much of the suspicion and cynicism.
What are these links for?
If you liked this article and would like to share it with others on the web who might be searching for good content we've made it easy for you to do it.
At the bottom of all articles, you'll see links to six sites. These sites - commonly called 'social bookmark' or 'social news' sites - have large communities of web users who share and rate interesting, useful and fun things on the web.
Clicking the links will automatically add the address of the story you are reading to one of these sites, letting you share it with others. Each site will ask you to register to share stories. Registration is free and once a member, you can store, recommend and search for stories that interest you.
More on Digg
More on del.icio.us
More on Furl
More on reddit
More on NowPublic/
More on Yahoo!
