MPs paid family members £5,600 more than other members of staff
Members of Parliament paid connected parties more than £5,000 more than other members of staff in 2014-2015, according to the parliamentary watchdog.
According to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa), MPs paid connected parties (mainly family members) an average additional full-time equivalent salary of £5,600 over other staff in 2014-2015.
The average full-time equivalent salary was £31,350 for connected parties during that year, and one in four MPs employed a connected party at some point between 2010-2011 to 2014-2015.
Read more: How much more does your MP earn than your local average?
In addition, there was a 24 per cent increase in the annual cost of connected parties between 2010-2011 and 2014-2015 with a total expenditure of £21m on connected parties from May 2010 to March 2015.
In March 2016, 139 connected parties were on the payroll, with total salary costs typically coming in at £4.5m per year, and as a result of "public concern", Ipsa has urged a review on whether or not MPs should be permitted to employ family members in the future.
In 2010 Ipsa decided not to ban MPs employing family members as it didn't find any abuse of the system.
In the past there was no evidence that connected parties received better salaries than other staff with the same job descriptions and circumstances. But because, on average, connected parties occupied more senior roles, their salaries were significantly higher than the average across all MPs’ staff. But salaries of connected parties had also risen at twice the rate of other staff.
The watchdog added that in order to determine whether there was any grounds for concern it would need to undertake "intrusive and potentially disproportionate work" to investigate the employment practices in MPs’ offices. "But, given that there remains a perception of risk to taxpayers’ money, we are obliged to address it," Ipsa continued.
"Therefore we are consulting again on the practice, but only in respect of the employment by MPs of any new staff. Connected parties who are already in employment by MPs will have their contracts honoured and we will continue to pay their salaries. To do otherwise would be unfair to those concerned, and legally challengeable," the Ipsa report said.
The watchdog is also going to be looking into the £4.4m spent on staff redundancies after MPs were defeated at the General Election. In particular, it will assess the £975,000 that was paid in tax-free redundancy payments to 125 staff members with a break in employment of less than 10 weeks.