Policing tsar under fire again in Labour jobs row

Mark Burns-Williamson came under fire earlier this year for choosing former Labour campaign manager Isabel Owen as his deputy after ruling that only party members could apply for the £53,000-a-year role.

Opposition groups have now spoken of their anger at the appointment of Henri Murison, a former Labour councillor in Newcastle, as research director on an annual salary of up to £41,697.

Mr Murison, who served as cabinet member for quality of life at Newcastle council, was considered the front-runner for the police and crime commissioner’s role in Northumbria before dropping out of the race last March.

Conservative councillor Les Carter, who was vice-chair of the West Yorkshire Police Authority before it was disbanded last year as part of national reforms, criticised both appointments.

He said: “I am shocked to find that the commissioner has appointed yet another member of his own party to a senior position in his office.

“People need to have confidence that the police are being scrutinised impartially by people who have a wide and extensive knowledge of policing issues.

“To fill so many senior positions with people from one political party does not help with this, and in fact risks undermining trust in the integrity of the system itself.”

Mr Murison announced his departure from Newcastle council in February, saying he was moving to Yorkshire to join his wife, who already works in the region.

Mr Burns-Williamson has defended the move, saying Mr Murison was “recruited through an open and transparent job evaluation scheme and was the highest scoring candidate of all of those interviewed”.

A spokeswoman for the commissioner said he “had inherited the former police authority staff when he took office” and that since then the only two vacancies filled were by Ms Owen and Mr Murison.

A debate due to be held yesterday as part of a Leeds City Council meeting on the appointment of Ms Owen, who previously worked as a consultant in the commissioner’s office and is married to the regional director for Labour in Yorkshire and Humberside, was postponed because of Margaret Thatcher’s funeral.

Stewart Golton, the leader of the Liberal Democrat group in Leeds, said: “One of the biggest disappointments of the meeting not going ahead is because it means we won’t be able to debate it ourselves here in the city.

“These two appointments, rather than demonstrating that the police commissioner is bringing greater accountability to policing in the country, are in danger of bringing the commissioner into disrepute.”

Mr Burns-Williamson is not the first commissioner to come under fire for his appointments.

Humberside commissioner Matthew Grove was accused of “political cronyism” last year after unveiling a fellow Conservative councillor, Paul Robinson, as his new deputy.

The commissioner and deputy commissioner are the only positions in the office that are “politically unrestricted”. All other staff are barred from political actions.