Claims Reform 'cannot be trusted' after West Northamptonshire councillors attended training that included diversity
Opposition parties have suggested the Reform UK administration “cannot be trusted to stand by their own words” after two-thirds of its members attended a training session that included sections on EDI and climate, despite previously announcing a boycott.
In May, when the new Reform UK administration was appointed, West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) Leader Mark Arnull said that he would stand with the party’s national policy and that his councillors would not be attending any equality or climate change training put on.
According to a council source, an induction pack handed out at the local election count initially invited all councillors to a training session named ‘Equality, Diversity and Inclusion in Local Government - Councillors’ roles and opportunities’. At some point after this, it was replaced by a different session on the same date instead called ‘Statutory consideration in lawful decision making’.
WNC has confirmed that the Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (EDI) training was delivered as part of the wider ‘lawful decision making’ session, which included content on statutory services, the roles and legal responsibilities of councillors, workplace employee legislation, and financial, EDI and climate change duties.
A spokesperson added: “The decision to combine EDI into a broader statutory session was made to consolidate several statutory training topics, recognising the volume of newly elected members and the importance of providing a practical and manageable schedule.”
Attendance documents show that 39 councillors watched the online training session live, consisting of 25 Reform UK, six Labour, six Lib Dem, one Conservative and one independent member. Of the Reform councillors in attendance, six were cabinet members, including the council leader.
Councillor Arnull has remained steadfast that his councillors refused to attend equality and diversity training since day one, “because we believe all people should be treated equally”. He added that the training was on legal frameworks, not a full EDI session, and that Reform members attended to familiarise themselves with legislative duties.
In fellow Reform UK-led Durham County Council, it was recently revealed that they had removed any equality, diversity, inclusion and climate change modules from its member induction programme, following a request from the leader.
Slides from the WNC ‘lawful decision making’ presentation include information on statutory responsibilities under the Equality Act 2010, climate change legislation, and why EDI is ‘vital’ to the role of a councillor, including points on understanding different communities better and remaining unbiased and objective.
‘Rebadging of the training to save face’
The West Northants Labour Group criticised Reform’s boycott when it was first announced, calling on the Chief Executive to take action. Its leader, Councillor Sally Keeble, has since accused the training of being rebadged to “save face” for the administration.
She said: “It was important that all councillors – especially those with executive positions who make the key decisions – heard about their legal duties on equality and diversity and climate change.
“The training accurately and forcefully presented the legal duties. However, some equality and diversity training is more adept at challenging attitudes and assumptions – we all need to be reminded of the risks of bias in decision-making.
“Reform nationally has set out a series of impractical, divisive, uncosted, back-of-fag-packet policies. So far, Reform in West Northants has said: – They were going to boycott Equality and Diversity training – and then two thirds turned up when it was rebadged under a different name. – They were going to scrap net zero – and then scrapped only the local milestones and agreed to do what they could towards national net zero.
“We need to know what Reform in West Northants stands for and what they will do.”
Leader of the Liberal Democrats, Councillor Jonathan Harris, added: “They made a very loud song and dance about not attending, but 25 of them did. It’s another example of saying one thing and doing another in my view.
“The vast majority of the council was there, and given that the title was branded as ‘lawful decision making’, everyone should’ve been there.”
However, he argued that the training might not have gone into enough detail, pointing to the council’s recent call-in on its net zero goals and his concerns that members did not have a full understanding of specific climate change legislation, which was covered in the session.
Councillor Daniel Lister, leader of the Conservative opposition, said: “As a group, we are all experienced councillors who take seriously our duty to serve and represent every member of our community with care, fairness, and attention to their needs, as well as our statutory responsibilities around equality, diversity, inclusion, and climate matters.
“The June session was voluntary and, while attendance on the day was lower, it was recorded so members could access it afterwards.
“Reform publicly declared a boycott of the training yet many of their councillors still attended. That shows they cannot be trusted to stand by their own words.”
‘It is important that all councillors understand their legal duties’
Leader of West Northamptonshire Council Cllr Arnull told the LDRS: “Since day one, Reform UK councillors in West Northamptonshire have refused to attend equality and diversity training because we believe all people should be treated equally.
“The legal framework training that was attended by Reform councillors and cabinet members covered all statutory decision-making, including their legal duties and responsibilities on local government, housing and planning alongside the Equalities Act.
“It is important that all councillors understand their legal duties and responsibilities so that we can administer a credible and effective Reform council.”