UPDATED: He’s back. Simon Grant, husband of Maidstone and the Weald MP Helen Grant, is back on the public payroll, despite resigning from the MP’s staff a little over two years ago in a controversy over altered staff contracts.

Mr Grant had been working as senior adviser in his wife’s Westminster office, when it emerged that he had altered the contracts of three other staff workers, slashing their sick pay entitlement from 26 weeks to two weeks. Although he claimed he was just trying to save taxpayers’ money, he neglected to reduce his own sick pay entitlement.

The Independent Parliamentary Standards Authority ruled the changes were improper and ordered the contracts to be restored.

Mr Grant’s actions were only discovered when Tony Williams, from Penenden Heath, who at the time was Mrs Grant’s local constituency assistant, had to undergo a serious heart operation and realised that his contract apparently only entitled him to a fortnight off.

Mr Grant resigned on November 18, 2012, saying he had made the changes unbeknown to his wife and he wanted to save her further embarrassment.

MPs are not allowed to change the sick pay provisions of their staff under IPSA rules.
However, Mrs Grant’s declaration in her Parliamentary register of financial interests for February 2 shows that her husband is back on her office payroll.

Her register entry states: ‘I employ my husband Simon as senior Parliamentary assistant.”
Her office this week confirmed that Mr Grant had in fact been re-employed part-time since April 1, last year, on a salary of £28,000 a year.

His work involved “providing assistance and guidance to Helen and all other staff in relation to their Parliamentary and Constituency duties.”

Asked why his re-employment had not appeared on the Parliamentary register of interests until 10 months after his re-employment, Mrs Grant’s Parliamentary assistant Noreen Chadra sent us this response:

“Helen’s office manager submitted the two requisite declaration of interests/connected party forms to both IPSA and to the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards in April 2014.

“IPSA duly registered the interest. For reasons unknown, the office of the Parliamentary Commissioner for Standards did not register the interest.

“During a general check of all Members’ interests their staff noticed the publication in IPSA’s records and contacted Helen’s office manager on January 15, 2015. A copy of the original form was re-submitted to them and their register was updated at the next date of publication on 2nd February.”

Miss Chadra said Mr Grant’s employment was no longer an embarrassment for the following reason: “IPSA wrongly approved the model staff contract initially created for Helen’s first staff member, on June 9, 2010, leading Helen to believe the template was suitable for future use.

“Until August 31, 2012, IPSA failed to advise that the model IPSA sick-pay terms were mandatory. IPSA failed to properly check nine separate contracts of employment over a period of 26 months.”

She did not explain why Mr Grant’s own contract was the only one not to include the reduced sickness entitlement.

Mrs Grant’s office said that Mr Grant’s employment would cease next week on March 31.