Council leader defends £1,100-a-year equality training after Reform challenge

Twm Owen, Local Democracy Reporter

Spending of just over one thousand pounds a year on equalities training has been defended by a council leader after being questioned by Reform UK.

Training for council staff centres on the equalities act, the council must comply with, and aims to make staff aware of issues including unconscious bias and discrimination while additional training, on top of the single mandatory module, has included issues such as neurodiversity and suicide.

Torfaen Borough council leader Anthony Hunt said the training, including on equalities that forms part of the induction for new councillors, improves how it provides public services.

The Labour leader was questioned on training on equality, diversity and inclusion, also referred to as EDI, at a second consecutive meeting by a member of the council’s Reform UK group.

Trevethin and Penygarn member Cllr Stuart Keyte had asked the leader to confirm if EDI training is mandatory for council staff and elected members, the cost of delivering it over the past three financial years, the principal objective of the training, whether it includes guidance on “personal pronouns, inclusive language, unconscious bias, privilege, systemic discrimination, allyship and anti-racism” and what assessment had been made of its effectiveness.

Cllr Hunt gave a lengthy answer and defended the training as “value for money” as the council could face costly legal bills if it was found to have discriminated against anybody on grounds such as race, sex or disability or having failed to take such considerations into account when making decisions.

The Panteg councillor said: “I believe that investment of staff time on EDI training results in people generally having positive experiences when accessing our services, but we can always do more.

“Such training is completely sensible as an ‘investment to save’ consideration as well given that the results if we don’t get it right are expensive legal action resulting from upheld residents’ complaints.”

At the previous meeting Cllr Hunt was asked by the leader of the Reform group, Cllr David Thomas, to confirm spending on equality, diversity and inclusion in the past three years.

He told Cllr Keyte at the most recent meeting the mandatory staff training is largely funded by the Welsh Government but delivered by council staff, at only a “small cost” in staff time.

Cllr Hunt said: “Depending on need we will sometimes provide supplementary training in specific areas and the cost totalled £3,267.69 pence across the three years. So all in all an average spend of less than eleven hundred pounds per year.”

Staff time

In response Cllr Keyte said he didn’t believe the £1,100 figure was “accurate” due to the cost in staff time and asked: “At a time when council finances are under pressure can you think of one area where you would say, where there’s deployment of EDI training, is of real benefits to the residents.”

Cllr Hunt said ensuring the council is “approachable” and “considerate” is vital, including in how it intends changing how it to work and deliver services with community groups and told Cllr Keyte: “That for me is why I don’t accept the premise of the question.”

He added: “I believe that is very good value for money when it comes to properly serving our communities, properly serving all the people in our communities and being an approachable, effective public service organisation.”