A formal complaint about a Liverpool City Council cabinet member is being looked into by the local authority and the Labour Party.
An investigation by the ECHO found Cllr Abdul Qadir, the council's cabinet member for neighbourhoods, had links to a large stalled development scheme in Vauxhall through the Liverpool-based Vega Group, which owns MV Canal, the subsidiary company behind the scheme. Cllr Qadir has been a director of Vega Group company Vega Trading since September 2014.
Cllr Qadir was a member of a Liverpool Council taskforce - or task and finish group - set up to investigate buyer-funded property schemes in the city, also known as fractional sales. Fractional schemes, where buyers put down large deposits to finance off-plan apartment schemes, attracted huge controversy following the collapse of high profile projects.
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Cllr Qadir declared his interest in the Vega Trading Group and MV Canal on the council's register of interests. He said his role with Vega Trading had not conflicted with his role as a councillor on various committees including the fractional taskforce.
He said his sole role with the company was to oversee imports and exports. He said the MV Canal scheme on Vauxhall Road was not fractional. He told the ECHO: "There has been no conflict of interest with my current role as cabinet member for neighbourhoods."
But Opposition leader Cllr Richard Kemp, who served on the fractional taskforce, said he was 'appalled' to learn Cllr Qadir was a director of a property company linked to a stalled site. Cllr Kemp has asked the Mayor and city solicitor to look at whether he should have declared an interest.
Cllr Kemp has now submitted a formal complaint to the council regarding Cllr Qadir - who has faced calls to resign over the revelations. The complaint was sent to Mayor Joanne Anderson and city council solicitor Dan Fenwick.
It states: "I am writing to you formally today to ask you to take action through either the Labour Party’s internal disciplinary machinery, or through the Council’s disciplinary processes.
"The facts of the matter appear to be that although he correctly gives his directorship of the Councillors Register of Interests, he has failed to declare his position at a series of meetings in the Council and, in particular, served as a member of the ‘task and finish’ group which looked at fractional investment in the City."
Cllr Kemp added: "I have no doubt in saying that Cllr Qadir should consider his position as a Cabinet Member and even as a Councillor."
Today Mayor Joanne Anderson has spoken about the situation. She tweeted: "I am aware issues have been raised with regard to Councillor Qadir’s employment and register of interests. The Monitoring Officer and the Labour Party are currently looking into this.
"As Mayor, I am committed to increasing the level of transparency and accountability within Liverpool Council and this is fundamental to everything we do. Any formal complaint will be dealt with under the council’s formal Code of Conduct."
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