Watchdog chief says crime tsar ‘wasted money’ on £50k deputy

Alison Lowe, chair of the West Yorkshire Police and Crime Panel, told the Commons home affairs committee that West Yorkshire Police and Crime Commissioner (PCC) Mark Burns-Williamson had not proven the need for a highly-paid deputy before appointing a local Labour Party member to the post.

Mr Burns-Williamson, a Labour politician, faced accusations of cronyism last April when he announced the appointment as his deputy of Isabel Owen, a former Labour Parliamentary candidate and wife of the party’s regional director for Yorkshire. Opposition councillors described the appointment as “deeply flawed”.

Coun Lowe, a Labour member of Leeds City Council whose panel was set up to oversee the work of the PCC, told MPs she took issue with the very “concept” of appointing a deputy PCC in the current public spending climate.

“It was not the person of Isabel Owen that I had any exception to,” she said. “It was the concept of recruiting a deputy. I thought it was a waste of taxpayers’ money.

“For me, he had to demonstrate a need – and that meant he had to be in the post for up to a year (and) demonstrate there was enough work for that person to do.”

Coun Lowe said she remained “unhappy” about the decision almost a year on but had been forced to accept it, as her panel does not have the power to veto the PCC’s appointments.

“If you have a problem with it, then it’s about changing the legislation that allowed that to happen,” she said. “I remain unhappy about that. Mark knows that – but I’m a grown-up and we move on.”

PCCs were introduced by the coalition in 2012 in a bid to make police forces more accountable to the local electorate.

The commissioners are voted in every four years and oversee the work of the local police force, with the power to set budgets, hire and fire chief constables and set local policing priorities.

Three of Yorkshire’s four PCCs – overseeing the West Yorkshire, South Yorkshire and Humberside forces – have now courted controversy by appointing highly-paid deputies. Only Conservative PCC Julia Mulligan, who oversees North Yorkshire Police, has decided against such a step.

MPs on the Home Affairs committee have previously expressed concern about some of the appointments made by PCCs around the country. The committee is considering whether to recommend boosting the powers of Police and Crime Panels to step in if they feel a PCC has gone too far.

Coun Lowe insisted that despite being a fellow Labour politician, her panel has made life “uncomfortable” for Mr Burns-Williamson since his election in 2012.

“We give him respect, but we are also very clear about our role and his,” she said. “He has been very uncomfortable in many of our meetings, and I think that is right. We have to be constructive, but we are there for a different purpose. He is responsible for £2bn over the course of the four years. He has to be held accountable.”

In a statement, Mr Burns-Williamson said he “always made clear” his intention to appoint a deputy, adding that overall his office’s budget is smaller than the old West Yorkshire Police authority which it replaced.

“The three largest force areas in Yorkshire have all appointed Deputy Police and Crime Commissioners,” he said. “I always made clear my intention to appoint a deputy, due to the size and scale of policing in West Yorkshire.

“I have and continue to reduce the cost of my office, in line with cuts to West Yorkshire Police.”

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