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Courtesy of the Telegraph.
Theresa May and parliamentary authorities were warned six months ago that more needed to be done to protect MPs’ staff against abuse, the Telegraph can reveal.An official report published in March recommended creating an independent human resources service for staff after hearing warnings from witnesses that MPs were getting away with inappropriate behaviour “time and again”.
The fact that the report does not appear to have been acted on is likely to raise questions over why warnings were not heeded as a Westminster harassment scandal continues to grow.
It came as Mrs May's official spokesman refused to say whether she is "confident" that members of her Cabinet have not committed sexual "misdemeanors".The Prime Minister's spokesman denied that she had been shown a dossier by her whips of detailing allegations of sexual harassment by ministers and MPs.However, the spokesman refused to deny that she had spoken about specific allegations of sexual harassment with her whips.
The House of Commons Administration Committee recommended in its report earlier this year that “members’ staff should be able to access support on day-to-day HR matters independent of their Member… and independent advice on handling employment issues before they can escalate to full grievances”.
It also called for the authorities to “explore the development of a centralised HR support service for Members’ staff, which could be funded jointly by the House and the parties”.The recommendations were made after Georgina Kester, the chairwoman of the Members’ and Peers’ Staff Association (MAPSA) gave oral evidence to the committee in November which warned of the issues faced by some staff.She said workers had “no recourse” if they were employed by a so-called “stapler thrower” MP. She said: “If your boss is the one throwing the stapler at your head, who do you go to? There is no HR for staff—none whatsoever—and it is very concerning that it still has not been addressed.
“In light of press coverage and things that have come out over the past years, still there is no progress being made with that. We would strongly encourage it.”
Ms Kester said having “nobody to go to” meant young staffers just “slink away with your tail between your legs, because you don’t want to get a reputation as a troublemaker”.
She said: “It is a small community and people do talk. They leave with a horrible experience and a nasty taste in their mouth, and the Member gets away with it, time and again, because nobody will stand up and say, ‘do you know what, there is a problem there’.”
A MAPSA spokesman said on Monday: "MAPSA gave evidence to the Administration Committee last November calling for a formal, cross-party HR/grievance procedure to be put in place and this was recognised in the Committee’s published report.
"It is a shame that no action was taken on the Committee’s recommendation at the time. However, we hope that it will now be taken forward in a professional and comprehensive manner with the full engagement of all concerned parties, addressing all staffing issues including harassment, bullying, employment rights etc."Mounting reports of abusive and inappropriate behaviour towards women in Parliament have gripped Westminster.The Prime Minister attempted to get a grip on the issue on Sunday by writing to John Bercow, the Commons Speaker, offering to hold talks on overhauling Commons disciplinary procedures.