Labour nepotism row as former jazz singer gets £50k police role
A FORMER jazz singer and actress is at the centre of a nepotism row after being appointed to a £50,000-ayear taxpayer-funded job.
Sareda Dirir, whose bit-part screen roles included an appearance in 90s BBC crime drama liverpool 1, has been made deputy to Cheshire’s labour Police and Crime Commissioner David Keane.
She has more recently been a teacher and journalist, as well as a labour councillor in Salford, Greater Manchester.
But the 41-year-old’s involvement in the criminal justice system is limited to when a police officer was installed in a school where she taught, a restorative justice scheme and unspecified ‘policing initiatives’ with young people.
It has emerged Mr Keane has known Miss Dirir for almost two decades, from his role as a borough councillor in Warrington representing the same ward as her parents, who are also labour councillors.
The Cheshire Police and Crime Panel watchdog has queried her suitability. Its members said the liverpool University graduate, who they were able to quiz only after she had been appointed, ‘failed to demonstrate an adequate knowledge and understanding’ of the role.
The cross- party group of councillors – who were not allowed to see Miss Dirir’s CV – had no power of veto and could not intervene because she met ‘minimum standards’.
Andrew Dawson, a Conservative councillor, asked Miss Dirir what she thought of the claim that ‘people may think you only got the job because of the link the police commissioner has with your parents?’
Panel chairman Howard Murray added: ‘It’s not about your integrity, it’s about the perception. Do you understand how this is going to be perceived by members of the public?’
Miss Dirir, a married mother of one, said it was ‘not respectful or appropriate’ to discuss her family. But Damian Bailey, a labour councillor in Crewe who campaigned for Mr Keane’s election, called Miss Dirir’s appointment ‘inexcusable’.
He said: ‘It can only appear to ordinary members of the public that this is nepotism and quite frankly it’s diabolical.’
Miss Dirir’s salary comes despite cash-strapped Cheshire Constabulary making £52.4 million of cuts since 2010 and raising the policing precept, which is paid alongside council tax.
Miss Dirir, who was a labour councillor in Salford for seven years, was picked from 21 candidates and was described by her new boss as ‘outstanding’. Miss Dirir’s parents – former civil servant linda and her Somaliborn husband Allin – represent the same ward on Warrington Council as Mr Keane, who has been a councillor for 18 years.
At a meeting of the Police and Crime Panel last month, Mr Keane was accused of breaking an oath not to use his position for the benefit of family or friends, which he denied.
Jan Wright, of the oxford Street and Underwood lane residents’ Association in Crewe, said: ‘People would rather see that money being spent on a police officer.’
John Dwyer, Mr Keane’s Tory predecessor as PCC, said Miss Dirir’s appointment was a ‘cause of some concern’, adding she ‘quite clearly does not fit the bill’.
Miss Dirir and her parents were unavailable for comment. Mr Keane said: ‘I was open about the fact I knew candidates and disclosed this. The salary is comparable or lower to many deputies around the region and country.’