TORY MSPs at Holyrood stand to lose nearly £400,000 in outside earnings under plans to crack down on 'double jobbing' at Holyrood.
Ten Conservatives - around one third of Ruth Davidson’s parliamentary group - make money from other jobs on top of the £61,778 a year salary they receive as parliamentarians.
The UK Government is under severe pressure to lift the public sector pay cap that has held down the wages of NHS staff, civil servants and soldiers in recent years. However, politicians at Westminster and Holyrood are able to boost their salaries by taking on second and even third jobs.
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Neil Findlay, a prominent Labour MSP, will soon consult on plans for a member’s bill that would restrict the ability of his fellow elected members to take second jobs. It is understood he is looking at a range of options that would limit second job earnings.
According to the most recent registers of interest for MSPs, Davidson’s colleagues on the Tory floor have got by far the most to lose financially.
The Sunday Herald looked at the outside income of MSPs for ongoing work that requires a specific time commitment, a classification that excludes cash from shareholdings, property rental and outside employment that has ceased.
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Alexander Burnett, the party’s Business, Innovation and Energy spokesman, declared that he anticipated withdrawing up to £120,000 in “personal remuneration” as owner of AJA Burnett Estate last year. He has estimated that he will spend up to one day a month on the role. If he received £120,000 for working 12 days a year, Burnett could make around £10,000 a day.
He also receives a “basic salary” of £6,120 a year for being Director and Chairman of North Banchory Company Limited.
Donald Cameron, the shadow Cabinet Secretary for Climate Change, Environment, Land Reform, declares up to £50,000 for two non-executive directorships. His time commitment is five board meetings a year for each company (each meeting lasts half a day).
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The senior MSP, who is also the party’s policy co-ordinator for the next Holyrood election, also estimated that his minimal work as an advocate would net him no more than £2,500 a year.
Rural Affairs spokesman Edward Mountain received up to £40,000, in the form of utilities and insurance payments for his home, as a partner in Delfur Farms Farming Partnership, a role which takes up between 2 to 4 hours a week.
He also pocketed £14,000 from Delfur Fishings in 2016 and will spend around one hour a week on this role.
Adam Tomkins, the Shadow Cabinet Secretary for the Constitution, Communities, Social Security and Equalities, makes up to £35,000 a year as a Glasgow University professor, a second job that takes up one and a half days a week, he says. He also declares around £1,000 per annum as a twice-yearly conference delegate for Liberty Fund, a private education foundation.
John Scott, the Tory farming spokesman, registers nearly £10,000 a year for the 14 hours a month he spends on his farming business, while shadow cabinet member Peter Chapman declares around £20,000 a year in utilities for his home and interest payments for his stake in a farming partnership.
New MSP Michelle Ballantyne declares up to £10,000 a year for the two hours a month she spends working for a manufacturing company and nearly £25,000 a year for duties as a councillor, although she donates the latter sum to charity.
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Another Tory MSP, Tom Mason, declares a councillor salary but also donates the money. He also registers between £5,000 and £10,000 a year for one hour a week as a senior partner of the Beel Partnership.
Finlay Carson, who speaks for the Tories on Biodiversity, Animal Welfare and the Digital Economy, expects to receive up to £2,000 per annum for two days a year at a property partnership.
The total amount in extra job income for the Conservative MSPs stands at around £370,000, which includes donated income.
However, restrictions could affect other MSPs. Although the Tories are the party with by far the most number of MSPs working double jobs, there are a number of other MSPS who would be affected by a ban as well. Former SNP Health Secretary Alex Neil receives up to £15,000 a year as a one-day-a-month advisor to a renewable energy firm, while fellow party MSP Gil Paterson receives up to £20,000 a year for less than 20 days a year as part owner of a family business.
Labour leader Kezia Dugdale receives £8,000 a year for a Daily Record column - cash which she donates to charity however - while SNP MSP Joan McAlpine declares £20,000 per annum from the same newspaper.
Findlay said: “It is and should always be a privilege to represent our constituents in Parliament but here we see a number of Tories with second and even third jobs topping up their income by significant amounts and the question must be: does this impact on their judgement and the decisions they make in their elected role? My consultation will seek the views of the public on whether very well paid MSPs should be moonlighting on second jobs.”
A Scottish Tory spokesman said: “It’s rich for Neil Findlay to criticise fellow MSPs for having second jobs. When he was supposed to be representing the people of West Lothian in the Scottish Parliament, he was instead beavering away at a book about his political hero Jeremy Corbyn.”
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