Objectives
2. A common theme emerging from a significant number
of submissions was that there was no pressing need for action
on employment of family members before April 1, the start of the
new allowance year, and many of them also went on to propose that
our suggestions should be treated as an input to the wider Members'
Estimate Committee (MEC) review, now due to report in the summer.[3]
CSPL has also raised the question as to whether our proposals
might be better looked at in a broader context, including the
general issue of publishing information about all Members' staff.
3. We have given careful consideration to this suggestion.
The misuse of the Staffing Allowance in relation to employment
of a family member which lay at the heart of our Fourth Report[4]
undoubtedly highlighted interest in employment at public expense
by Members of relatives, an arrangement described by CSPL as "an
unusual arrangement which might not be allowed elsewhere".
The leaders of the three largest political parties have urged
their Members of Parliament to disclose any employment of relatives,
and a number of Members have already approached the Registrar
of Members' Interests, seeking to include details of such employment
in their Register entries.
4. We acknowledge, as does CSPL, that wider disclosure
of information about Members' staff raises important issues. It
is, however, the case that the names of all Members' staff who
hold a parliamentary pass have for many years been in the public
domain through inclusion in the Register of Interests of Members'
Staff and Research Assistants, and others are in the public domain
in other ways. In all, we estimate that the names of at least
60% of Members' staff are already in the public domain.[5]
Our proposals are therefore likely to have a relatively modest
impact in this regard. We are also satisfied that our proposals
can be implemented in a way which is consistent with the requirements
of the relevant data protection legislation.
5. Taking all these factors into consideration, we
believe it right to confirm our previous recommendation to the
House that a scheme for disclosure of family members employed
through the Staffing Allowance be introduced with effect from
April 1. We also recommend, as foreshadowed in that report, that
it should not become compulsory until August 1. This will provide
Members who are pressing to disclose publicly their employment
of family members with a formal opportunity to do so within the
framework of the Register of Members' Interests, while at the
same time providing those who need to review their contractual
arrangements with a reasonable opportunity to do so in an orderly
way. It will also provide us with an opportunity to review the
arrangements if necessary, before they become compulsory, in the
light of any proposals to be brought forward before the House
by the MEC.
What
should be disclosed in the Register?
6. We confirm the proposal in our Sixth Report that
Members should be required to disclose in each case the name of
the staff member, their relationship to the Member, and a description
of the job they do. We consider later the changes we recommend
from the proposals in that report as to the precise information
and the range of relationships to be disclosed.
7. We also confirm our proposal for a de minimis
threshold of 1% of a Member's annual salary per employee.
Whom
might be covered by the disclosure requirement?
8. We recommend a simple formula requiring registration
of any employee where the Member knows of, or might reasonably
be expected to know of, any relationship, past or present:
- by marriage, or partnership
equivalent to marriage; or
- by blood.
9. In cases where the relevant relationship ends
but the employment continues, we confirm our proposal that the
requirement to register should continue to apply for a period
of three years.
10. We also recommend that the requirement to register
should commence, in relation to permanent employment, from the
date of employment. In the case of casual employment, it should
commence when the de minimis threshold is exceeded in the
course of any particular financial year.
What
information should be given in the Register entry?
11. Our purpose in making these proposals is not
to pass judgement on the practice of employment of family members;
it is merely to introduce transparency.
12. We now recommend a revised heading as follows:
Category 11
