MP McCann criticised for employing his wife

Jul 21 2010 By Louise Reilly

MICHAEL McCann was this week accused of having a “brass neck” after appointing his wife to run his constituency office.

Mum-of-two Tracy McCann recently quit her job on the booking and enquiry desk at South Lanarkshire Council’s Town House facility in Hamilton.

She now heads the £65,738 a year MP’s team at his East Kilbride office in Strathmore House.

According to the Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority (IPSA) the salary range for her new appointment is between £26,000 and £37,000.

The independent watchdog was set up to run a new scheme after the expenses scandal rocked the country.

Guidelines to MPs on staffing expenditure state that “the top end of the salary range allows for experience and good performance to be rewarded, while the bottom end will be appropriate for a less experienced employee.
“We recommend that new staff with little relevant experience should be paid at or close to the bottom of the range. But you may want to pay a little more for a new employee with some relevant experience.”

Unveiling his new team on his website, which the MP says he pays for himself, Mr McCann states: “In the last parliament MPs were rightly criticised for hiring members of their family who didn’t do any work.

“I have hired my wife Tracy because I know she will work hard and do a great job.

“She has a massive amount of experience in both the public and private sector and is great with the public and she is the only person I know who will type letters at half-past-ten at night.”

At the peak of the public outcry over extravagant expenses claims there was a call for a ban on MPs employing family members.

Despite criticism, the expenses watchdog ruled MPs could employ one family member at the taxpayers’ expense.
Other members of Mr McCann’s publicly-funded team revealed on his website are his constituency office case worker, John Muldoon, and Gordon Paterson, his parliamentary assistant.

Mr McCann states:  “John Muldoon worked with me in the trade union movement. He has a vast knowledge of issues from benefits to immigration and he is a real asset to me in my constituency office.”

According to IPSA’s guidelines, a case worker’s salary is between £16,000 and £25,000, while a senior case worker earns in the range of £19,000 to £28,000.

The salary scale for a parliamentary assistant is between £20,000 and £30,000 with a senior appointed to the post earning anything from £30,000 to £39,000.
Of his new parliamentary assistant, Mr McCann says: “Gordon Paterson will work with me in the House of Commons.

“Gordon was the IT manager for the Public and Commercial Services Union (PCS) and Gordon will be using his IT skills on my website, carrying out research and dealing with complex case work in London.”
The MP adds: “They are a great friendly team with proven ability and I know that any issues which come their way will be dealt with efficiently, courteously and professionally.

“These are the standards I have set for my term in office and I know that my constituents wouldn’t expect anything less.

“Whatever part of the constituency you live in you will get a blue ribbon service from my team.”

After being elected MP, Mr McCann stepped down as Deputy Council Leader, a post with a salary of  £24,639. However, as he continues to serve as councillor for EK West, he is still entitled to the basic pay of  £16,239 on top of his MP’s salary.

He said during the election campaign he would hold discussions with colleagues to arrange a suitable time for a by-election.

Mr Cann’s staunchest critic, Tory councillor Graham Simpson, who stood against him at the General Election,  said: “The public were disgusted by MPs employing relatives before the last election.

“Mr McCann, who still hasn’t done the decent thing and resigned as a councillor, clearly does not understand that anger. He protests that his wife will do a good job.

“No doubt she will, but that’s not the point – lots of other people could do a good job too.

“The McCanns will be doing very nicely thank you, while hundreds of Mr McCann’s constituents struggle to find work and pay the bills, thanks to the mess Labour left us in.

“When you become a public servant I think you have to accept that you are not there to make money.

“But that’s exactly the way it looks if you employ a relative.

“It is within the rules but is certainly sticks in the throat.

“I know Mr McCann has a brass neck – I just didn’t realise it was a giraffe’s.”

Mr McCann failed to respond to requests for comment by the News.