OXFORD East MP Andrew Smith tonight warned his constituents it was they who would lose out if new Parliamentary rules to prevent MPs from giving paid jobs to family members were imposed.

Mr Smith has employed his wife Val – an experienced city and county councillor – for more than 20 years and fears her in-depth knowledge of the constituency would be lost to residents who ask for help.

However, he said he would adhere to any family employee ban, which is expected to be recommended next week following an independent inquiry by Sir Christopher Kelly into MPs’ expenses.

Sir Christopher was asked to reform the expenses system after the scandal earlier this year in which it emerged Conservative MP Derek Conway paid his son £981 a month to be his Parliamentary assistant – even though he was still a full-time student.

Mr Smith said: “The problem is that some people abused the system and brought it into disrepute and that’s why we needed this independent inquiry.

“For the benefit of the constituents and the service I give it would be best if Val is able to stay on.

“She is an absolute mine of knowledge and experience having helped so many constituents over the years.

“She knows her way around all the agencies to get people help.

“There is a danger that useful skills and a great contribution might be lost and my constituents would lose that as well.

“However, I have strongly supported an independent review and think it is essential that it is implemented in full so we’ll comply with whatever the report says.”

Mr Smith has been Oxford East MP for 22 years and has employed his wife for over 20 of them, first as a case worker and now as a part-time office manager.

He would not reveal her exact salary but said she is paid less than £15,000 a year for a 25 hour working week.

The pay is equivalent to an annual salary under £22,500 if Mrs Smith’s job was full time, a figure which is at the lower end of Parliamentary recommended pay for staff.

However, Mr Smith said his wife regularly worked 40- or 50-hour weeks for which she was not paid extra.

Oxford West and Abingdon MP Evan Harris, who has never hired a family member for paid employment, said: “I think it’s reasonable for the sake of appearances and given what’s happened with some MPs that a ban is put in place.

“I don’t think that MPs who currently employ family members are doing anything wrong, but I don’t think the reasons given for not imposing a ban are sufficient.

“There have been abuses in some instances and it doesn’t look appropriate.”

  • Leaked details of the Kelly report into MPs’ expenses indicate it would call for MPs to be prevented from claiming for a second home if they are within “reasonable commuting distance” of Westminster, defined as any MP whose nearest railway station lies within 60 minutes of London, and they may be banned from claiming travel costs too.

If the leaks are correct, it could mean MPs for four Oxfordshire seats — Wantage, Henley, Oxford East and Oxford West & Abingdon — risk losing the right to claim up to £24,222 a year in second home allowances and thousands of pounds in travel expenses.

Wantage MP Ed Vaizey, who claimed about £18,000 in second home costs last year and expected to claim about £11,000 for the 2009-10 financial year, said: “I made my living arrangements according to what the system was when I was elected, but I would obviously adapt to any change of circumstances either by maintaining a second home myself or downsizing appropriately.

“A great many of my constituents already commute from Didcot and while you could argue we have many working events in the evening, I would accept whatever Kelly proposed and adapt my lifestyle accordingly.”