Police Commissioner’s Sunderland office announcement exposed as ‘total sham’
Liberal Democrat councillors in Sunderland have reacted with fury after it was exposed that Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner Kim McGuinness’ announcement of a new office in Sunderland failed to mention that she doesn’t actually have an office.
Opposition councillors wanted to know if the Commissioner would be paying a market rate rent for the recently announced office in the Council’s City Hall headquarters – only to find out that she isn’t paying anything and doesn’t even have an office.
Instead Northumbria Police and Crime Commissioner staff are permitted to use hot desks usually reserved for council staff on the 5th floor of the building should they wish to do so. No rent will be charged as part of the one-year agreement.
Commenting, Lib Dem councillor Margaret Crosby who uncovered the scandal said: “Just when you thought that paying £2.5 million a year to rent these City Hall offices from Legal and General was bad enough you find out that Council bosses are giving out office spaces to their Labour party pals for free instead of charging a market rate rent.
“With a soaring yearly rent bill and an additional £77,000 of taxpayers money being spent every year on window cleaning costs the Council needs to be getting in as much rent as possible from City Hall to try and mitigate this terrible PFI-style disaster.
“To add insult to injury it turns out the Police and Crime Commissioner doesn’t actually have an office in the City Hall at all. Instead there is just a flimsy agreement for the Commissioner’s staff to work from desks on the 5th floor of the building if they choose to do so.
“This announcement is a total sham and has been exposed as nothing more than a cheap headline to disguise the fact that the Newcastle-based Police and Crime Commissioner has been complete invisible, ineffective and incompetent at tackling crime and anti-social behaviour in Sunderland.”
