Five domestic abuse charities express ‘deep concerns’ over West Northamptonshire Council’s handling of Jonathan Nunn case

A powerful open letter signed by five domestic abuses charities acuses West Northamptonshire Council of sending out a ‘dangerous message’ in the ongoing case surrounding its former leader.

Councillor Jonathan Nunn stood down with immediate effect as leader of WNC on Thursday evening following mounting pressure to resign after BBC investigations published allegations from five women relating to claims of domestic abuse.

He was convicted and sentenced to a community order for an assault in 2004 in relation to his second wife.

Despite Cllr Nunn standing down as leader, he remains an elected Conservative party member representing the Nene Valley ward in Northampton. He continues to deny the allegations.

Over the weekend Northamptonshire Domestic Abuse Service, Nene Valley Christian Family Refuge (known as eve), Northamptonshire Rape Crisis, Creating Equalz and Black Women’s Domestic Abuse Group joined forces to write an open letter to WNC.

It reads: “We are writing to request urgent action be taken with regards to the widely publicised and numerous accusations of domestic abuse against Councillor Jonathan Nunn.

"As local specialist domestic abuse, sexual violence and violence against women and girls’ services, we are expressing our deep concerns over the handling of the situation to date, the messages this inaction send to victim survivors across the county and to protect the reputation of the Council and services in Northamptonshire.

“The Council have said repeatedly that Domestic Abuse is a personal matter and investigation is a matter for the Police, this is a dangerous message.

"It is imperative that victim survivors know that their experiences will be listened to and that they will be believed if they come forward.

"It is a matter of life and death in some cases that we encourage the confidence to disclose.

“Inaction by the Local Authority “pending investigation” (particularly where it is known that no investigation is taking place) only serves to reinforce that domestic abuse has to be proven first, that your disclosure will not be believed, that your word alone is not enough, you don’t matter and nor does your pain; an idea that could literally cost lives.

“Domestic abuse should not be tolerated at any level in our society; we appeal to you to proactively respond to these allegations to prove that victims will be believed, and that domestic abuse is not simply a matter for the Police, or only validated after investigation by the Police.

“As I am sure you are aware, only a third of victims contact the Police; therefore, framing it in this way is both damaging for our work in the sector and dangerous for victims, many of whom are not willing or not ready to speak to the Police.

“In any other professional environment, an employee would be suspended pending investigation as soon as any complaint of this severity or number were recorded; it is curious and unfathomable that you would not do the same, at the very least to safeguard vulnerable people and to protect the reputation of West Northamptonshire Unitary Authority.

"In many sectors, suspension would be a preventative and protective measure (and not an assumption of guilt or predetermination of culpability).

"Mr Nunn represents the community of West Northants and as such is in contact with vulnerable people. Inaction has left this risk unmitigated.

“While we are aware that Mr Nunn has now stepped down, regardless, by not taking a stronger stance on this, the implication is that the alleged activity by a councillor (and specifically the Leader of the Council) is not a serious matter, is not important, nor is it your business.

"Not only does this risk the immensely important work done so far in this County on domestic abuse and sexual violence via a strategy that is led by the Council, but it also risks setting our campaign against domestic abuse back years – and closer to where domestic abuse was seen as a private family matter that happened behind closed doors and definitely not talked about.

“We ask you to seriously consider the ramifications of further inaction to avoid even more risk, damage and misunderstanding.

"The West, and indeed the County, is watching their Local Authority - and you have the unusual opportunity to send a strong message of zero tolerance to domestic abuse, which could influence generations to come.

“We urge you to speak out and make this stand on behalf of victim survivors acros Northamptonshire.”

Last week a spokesperson for WNC said Cllr Nunn had denied the allegations and added that the council were “not in a position to validate” what has been alleged.

In light of receiving the open letter from the five domestive abuse charities, WNC has issued a further statement.

Anna Earnshaw, Chief Executive of West Northamptonshire Council, said: “I fully appreciate and understand the concerns raised by our local domestic abuse charities over how these recent events have unfolded in the media and how the Council’s actions may be perceived and I thank them for contacting me.

“They are right to raise these issues as there is a clear danger of mixed messages or an incorrect perception that the Council and myself do not stand by all victims and organisations who fight to stop all domestic violence.

“It has been an exceptionally challenging time for everyone with the allegations stirring up many emotions for those who have experienced domestic abuse, including among our own staff.

“I would like to assure them that at no time has the allegation of domestic abuse received by the Council been downplayed or downgraded and with every contact received by the victim we encouraged them to seek the support of local domestic abuse agencies, as well as reporting to the police, so that these could also be investigated by those that had the power and expertise required.

“It is clear there are expectations from some, including the victim and press, that the Council can take certain actions when it does not have the power to do so. While it may not be widely understood, neither myself as the Chief Executive nor any other officer or member of the Council has the legal powers to suspend or remove an elected member from their role as a councillor. This can only occur when it is triggered by one of the events in Local Government Act 1972 and then removal is automatic.

“This legislation sets out that a member will cease to be a Councillor if one of the conditions within the Act applies, such as a relevant bankruptcy order, being a relevant employee of that Council, holding convictions within the last five years with a relevant penalty, committing sexual offences under the 2022 Act or removal for non-attendance of meetings.

"In all cases the removal from office is triggered by the circumstances and is not a decision for the Council or its officers to make.

“We are committed to working with and supporting our partners on tackling the issue of domestic abuse and I will be contacting their representatives responding to the concerns in their open letter and proposing a meeting to see how we can move forward together in a united and strong stance for supporting victims.”

Nine councillors backed a vote of no confidence in Cllr Nunn last week ahead of him quitting.

Leading Conservative councillor James Hill, who was previously supporting Cllr Nunn, spoke out last week to say he was “deeply troubled” by the allegations.WNC confirmed on Friday that election of a new leader will take place at the annual council meeting on May 16.

Until this time the deputy leader of the council, councillor Adam Brown, will carry out the role of leader alongside his current cabinet duties for housing, culture and leisure.

Councillor Brown, in his statement which did not refer to any of the circumstances leading up to Councillor Nunn’s resignation, thanked Councillor Nunn for his work as leader of the council.

He said: “We now look ahead to continue to build upon all the good work we are doing as a council to deliver services to residents across West Northamptonshire.”In his resignation statement, Cllr Nunn said the ongoing situation was having a ‘massive impact on my mental health and wellbeing’.

During a council meeting last month Cllr Nunn said there has been a “prolonged campaign against him”.

Northamptonshire Police said at the time that a report of alleged harassment against Cllr Nunn was “being looked into”.

In a new statement issued to the Chron today (Monday), a spokesperson for Northamptonshire Police said: “Northamptonshire Police is aware of further allegations recently reported in the media, with preliminary enquiries into these currently being made.

“Anyone who has been a victim of any form of abuse is urged to report it to the police to enable the matter to be investigated.”