Statement on the Employment of Relatives

There has been considerable press comment of MPs who employ members of staff in their office.

I would like to make my own position clear. My wife is employed for 2 days a week at my West Bromwich office on the lowest salary of any of my employees. She has been working there since August 2007 and her duties include organising my constituency diary, filing and dealing with simple casework. She is not a Senior Secretary as wrongly reported in the Daily Telegraph.

In principle I believe it is legitimate for MPs to employee members of staff providing that there pay is commensurate with their responsibilities and they carry out their duties in an appropriately professional manner. Most partners of MPs provide a level of knowledge, both of the constituency and the MP, and are willing to work out of hours in way that it would be unreasonable to expect a non relative employee to do.

The Kelly Committee due to report on November the 4^th has been widely reported as recommending a ban on the employment of relatives. In principle, I will conform to the recommendations made by the Committee.