MPs may be breaking law in offering work to unpaid interns
Ministers told minimum wage should be paid as placements favour children of rich parents who can afford work without pay
Scores of MPs, from millionaire Tory cabinet members to Labour backbenchers, may have broken minimum wage law by taking on unpaid interns, according to legal advice to ministers.
A combination of changes to parliamentary expenses rules and record graduate unemployment is thought to have increased placements offered in Westminster, leading to a fear of a new political class emerging, drawn from those whose parents are rich enough to support months of unpaid work that nevertheless offers networking opportunities.
Hundreds of ads on the Commons site, Work for MP (W4MP) show that, since the election, there have been 260 unpaid internships, some not even providing expenses, the longest lasting 10 months.
Thirteen Tory members of the government offered 28 placements lasting up to six months, out of 138 for Conservative MPs. These included culture secretary Jeremy Hunt, seven, the attorney general, Dominic Grieve , three, and exchequer secretary to the Treasury David Gauke, seven. Ministers Andrew Lansley, Grant Shapps and Andrew Mitchell also advertised.
Lib Dem ministers, MPs and president Tim Farron advertised for 67 for up to six months; 15 were offered even after Nick Clegg this spring condemned a culture! of unpa id interns in government. Labour MPs placed 55 ads, four by shadow business secretary, Chuka Umunna, and six from shadow Treasury chief secretary Rachel Reeves.
Internal legal advice to department for business, innovation and skills ministers, revealed by the Guardian this month, stated "most interns are likely to be workers, and therefore entitled to the NMW [national minimum wage]".
Government lawyers added that only "altruistic" relationships, where the benefits were wholly to the intern, of one to two weeks, were likely to be exempt. The department confirmed MPs are not exempt from the wage law, as charities and public bodies can be.
A spokesman said: "The law is clear."
A campaign group, Interns Anonymous, says it has written to the parliamentary standards commissioner.
Some MPs advertise for volunteers, but papers from Revenue and Customs, which enforces minimum pay, state: "Sometimes individuals are told they are interns or volunteers, but this does not prevent them being workers." Lawyers have told the Guardian they would represent interns in tribunals to claim what could amount to thousands of pounds. Louise Haigh, of the parliamentary staff branch of Unite union, said W4MP ads were only part of the picture: "We think there are 450 interns; 7% are paid a wage, and 20% are paid expenses."
She believed MPs routinely break minimum wage law, and also expressed fear that changes in the Ind! ependent Parliamentary Standards Authority (Ipsa) staff budget increased the use of interns, leading to the creation of a new political class. "Since the election, with a lack of clear guidance and regulation, there's definitely been an upturn. "I've been in parliament for 3 years now. I can see a definite shift to internships, and that being the only defined route into being a parliamentary researcher and a political career."
Celia Hall, 26, spent several months unpaid in the office of the chief secretary to the Treasury, Danny Alexander, in 2008. She said she had fought but failed to get Ipsa to create an interns fund. "When Ipsa was set up after the election, I called and wrote regularlyto ensure proper provisions were being made for interns."
"I was so disappointed that . Ipsa made it clear this was so low down on their priority list, despite it being the best opportunity for them to see interns being paid and treated fairly."
Grieve said he did not think he was breaching minimum wage law. He said: "I've done it in conformity with what's been suggested by the Ipsa," adding there was "no money to pay them" anyway, and he set a three-month limit.He said that he advertised on the W4MP website to "broaden the pool" of his intake but that he had put a three month limit on it.
"Some people really want to come in ... And, quite frankly, with the current state of the economy I can understand."
The IPSA said MPs' staff budgets had not changed compared with the old expenses system: 110,000 per year, or 3.5 staff in parliamentary and constituency offices.
A spokesman for the House of Commons said W4MP was outsourced to a firm, Capita, and its staff had no editorial control over what was advertised.
"It does, advertise quite a few different positions including paid and unpaid for members of parliament. Obviously, it is entirely possible for there to be unpaid work within a members office and that be completely legal, for educational benefit or work experience."
"We g! ive advi ce to members to help them determine their relationship with their staff, but that it up to them," they said.
Comments