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Standards and Privileges

I preface my remarks by declaring two interests. The first is that I am a member of the advisory panel on Members' allowances, and the second is that I employ my husband. From the first day I started to employ him, that fact has appeared in my election address. When the fury about the employment of Members' families broke out, I had only one communication about it. That came from someone who regularly writes me letters—usually angry letters—but on this occasion it was to congratulate me on employing Ian, which was described as one of the best decisions I had ever made. Clearly, not everyone thinks it is necessarily a bad thing to employ one's spouse. Sometimes, however, we have to think a little more deeply about our decisions in the House, and on this occasion, I want us to think more deeply about our job descriptions. When we started to reflect on these issues, we began by discussing the consultation on the Senior Salaries Review Body, which predates the fury about what happened in the particular case we all know about, so I do not quite agree that we always come to these matters kicking and screaming. We are also looking into personnel functions—another important aspect. Since I advertise the fact that I employ my husband, I am obviously not against transparency, but I am concerned about job descriptions. The fact that I am a little disabled is clear for everyone to see, so it is not a private matter for me, but for some people, becoming disabled is a private matter. It is necessary for the fact that my husband is my carer to form part of his job description, because the rules of the House say that if someone is one's carer, it must be part of their job description. If have checked today, and that is a condition laid down by the House, so that other allowances can flow. Other Members who are disabled might want to keep their disabilities a private matter. Not all disabilities are public. Not all people with disabilities use wheelchairs or have a walking stick, as I do. Some disabilities are private, and some people prefer to keep illnesses a private matter. While this is a narrow area, we must consider whether such matters need to be revisited. If it is a rule of the House that allowances due to Members flow from job descriptions, the Committee needs to consider that situation so that some privacy can be afforded to Members, and we do not have a two-tier system regarding job descriptions.