Hazel Blears In "No Salary From Public Funds" Shock

The FoI request I submitted asking for details of the Chairman of the Labour Party's perks as a Minister without Portfolio (i.e. no job) has been returned at last. It proves that, pretty much she has no job, describing her role as a Minister without Portfolio as:

"Involvement in the Government's decision making processes as a member of the Cabinet and a number of Cabinet Committees

Acting as an interface between Government and the Labour Party;

and

Providing the Prime Minister with strategic thinking on the general direction of the Government's policy and the values underpinning it."

To be fair, that is probably the sort of job I would expect the Chairman of a Party in Government to undertake.

In terms of allowances, the response confirms that:

"Hazel Blears is not paid a salary from public funds and she does not have an official residence. As set out in the Ministerial Code and Travel by Ministers all Government Ministers are provided with a Government Car when travelling on official business."

Again I would suggest she is off the hook. Whether the job warants a publicly funded car is, I suspect, open to debate - but I think it would be wrong to begrudge that - as long as its use is restricted to official (i.e. Government) business.

I would like to make the point that I could have simply not mentioned this response, given that there is no story; but, having mentioned the FoI request previously, I felt it right to comment.