Over the past month or so a lot has been said about what MEPs get paid, whether we employ relatives and the roles of our staff.

This section of my website sheds some light on how my office is run, and how my accounts are audited.

EMPLOYEES:

I DO NOT employ family members as employees, service providers or paying agents in any capacity.

Brussels/Strasbourg:

Stephen O'Donnell - Political Advisor and Press Officer

Pascale Lamb - Acredited Parliamentary Assistant

Scotland:

Yvonne Thorpe - Office Manager

Sonia Campbell - Political Researcher

(Fiona Trafton - Press and Campaigns Officer - Contract ended 8 January 2012)

Stuart Clark - Political and Organisational Assistant, contracted for 8 hours a week 

All Labour MEPs currently contribute towards the salary of a Joint Members Assistant (JMA).

You cand download the EPLP Staffing Guildelines here:

PAYING AGENTS & AUDITORS:

My paying agents and auditors are French Duncan, one of Scotland’s largest independent firms of Chartered Accountants, with 22 partners and over 170 staff across their five Scottish offices. They ensure that all the money I have allotted to me for my staff is spent correctly, redundancy is budgeted for, and national insurance, pensions and tax are paid according to parliament's rules.

French Duncan also ensures that my office expenditure is fully accounted for:

Please feel free to download my up to date auditors certificate from French Duncan:

DECLARATION OF INTERESTS:

Every December I am expected to complete a “declaration of financial interests” which is then posted on the European Parliaments website.

I am required to declare anything that has a financial value of more than 100 euro (around £70).

You can download my most up to date declaration of financial interests here: 

TRANSPARENCY DOCUMENTS:

Labour Members of the European Parliament are committed to the highest standards of propriety.  To view my transparency documents, please follow the link to the European Parliamentary Labour Party website.  These documents provide a breakdown of our expenses.

http://www.eurolabour.org.uk/Transparency

I ensure that any money from my allowances budget that is not spent is returned to the Parliamentary authorities.

I have returned the following:

2009 - 2010

£7, 157

2010 - 2011

£16, 437