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A new Reform UK administration in Yorkshire has sacked the long-standing independent Chair of the council’s Board for Standards in Public Life, amid a flurry of cuts to scrutiny functions pushed through on Wednesday.
Reverend Canon Hilary Barber has served in the role for 16 years, as well as being the personal Chaplain for the Mayor.
It came as Nigel Farage’s party in Calderdale also voted to abolish scrutiny boards covering Children and Young People, Place, and Adult Health and Social Care – leaving only the Overview and Scrutiny Committee left, which will be expected to monitor almost everything the council does. And rather than being led by an opposition party, it will now be chaired by a Reform councillor.
Following the local elections on the 7th May, Reform took 34 out of 54 seats on Calderdale Council, kicking Labour from office and leaving no Conservative councillors for the first time in the history of the borough.
Now leading the authority is Cllr Daniel Sutherland, who was a Labour councillor for over a decade until last February, when he defected to Reform, claiming Labour had “abandoned the values it once stood for.”
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In an excoriating intervention following Wednesday’s votes, the Revd Canon Hilary Barber, Vicar of Halifax Minster, told Byline Times: “Sweeping changes to conventions of over 50 years have included: cancelling Mayor making, the removal of myself as Mayor’s Chaplain and Chair of the Board for Standards in Public Life; the removal of three Scrutiny Boards on the work of the Council, [and] the political appointment of a new Mayor and Deputy, voting out the Labour nomination whose turn it should have been.”
“I was informed on Friday that I was not invited to the Annual Council Meeting, and I was informed only yesterday morning on the day of Annual Council that I was not to be reappointed as the independent Chair of Standards.”
The Reverend Canon said he was “clearly disappointed that there was no discussion with the Leader of the Council about the role I have played over the past 16 years.”
“I have received no thanks for service given or explanation. One presumes that the Reform administration will look to appoint one of their own Members to the role of Chair – as they have appointed their own members to all the Chairs of the Committees that remain.”
He added that there appeared to be “a deliberate choice to avoid scrutiny by either the appointment of independent members of the Council and by shutting down scrutiny Boards that have provided essential transparency and scrutiny of the council’s work.”
Revd Canon Barber called it a “sad day for the people of Calderdale who deserve so much better from their elected Members.”
Barber also chairs the Independent Ethics Board for the Combined Authorities of West Yorkshire, sits on the national Ethics Board for Policing and Crime at the Home Office, and is a member of the national IAG on Hate Crime.
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‘Marking Their Own Homework’
Commenting on the changes, Labour group leader Cllr Adam Wilkinson said of Reform: “Not only are they marking their own homework, they are ensuring most of their homework won’t get marked at all.”
“It’s a drastic reduction in the number of members scrutinising the work of the council. There will be a lot fewer public meetings a year, and a lot fewer issues they can cover. It’s a blatant attempt to evade accountability and transparency,” he added.
The Labour group leader questioned Reform’s motivations, telling Byline Times: “Is it because they don’t want to put the work in? Or because they don’t want their councillors subject to public accountability? We’ve seen similar efforts elsewhere.”
In November, Byline Times revealed that Reform UK in Kent planned to drastically cut the number of committees scrutinising its work. Opposition parties claimed Reform couldn’t get the numbers of councillors interested to fill the places.
In Calderdale, Cllr Wilkinson also accused Reform of breaking with longstanding conventions of the council by nominating their own mayor.
Normally a rota and formula based on vote share is applied, and this year would usually have produced a Labour mayor. Instead, Reform are proposing one of their own.
“They’re politicising the role,” he said. “It calls into question the independence of that role, which is usually a civic and ceremonial one.”
By convention, the opposition is usually given the chairs of committees and scrutiny boards. Reform have instead put forward nominations for the chair of every single committee and board – including Reform councillors to chair their own scrutiny committees.
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Reform’s Defence
In the debate, council leader Cllr Sutherland claimed that Labour’s elected Mayor for West Yorkshire, Tracy Brabin, had made similar changes to scrutiny committees.
“This Reform administration will ensure transparency on issues like [grooming]. You can block us no more,” he told the chamber.
Alleging that Labour and the Conservatives had pushed through funding for Halifax’s celebrated Piece Hall just weeks before the election, to stop it being jettisoned should Reform win, he said: “They can talk all they want about democracy, but we see what democracy means to you.”
A spokesperson for Calderdale Council claimed there would be “no reduction in the capacity of Councillors to scrutinise across those areas [affected]”.
“It is the coordination and direction of the scrutiny process through a traditional Scrutiny Committee model which has changed,” the spokesperson told Byline Times.
“[It is] incorrect to presume this will result in fewer public scrutiny meetings, that is not yet determined and will be a matter for the Overview and Scrutiny Committee to determine.”
On savings, Reform’s rationale for the measure, the spokesperson added: “The immediate cost saving delivered by this change is that of three special responsibility allowances, which totals £11,025 per annum.”
In a statement, Calderdale Labour branded the changes “a blatant attempt to consolidate power within Calderdale Council.”
“For a party that talks constantly about free speech, they seem far less comfortable when they are the ones being asked the questions.”
Cllr Sutherland was viewed as being on the left of the Labour party until his defection last February. In a statement at the time he said: “Reform UK is the only party that speaks truthfully about the issues that matter – the cost of living, immigration, foreign affairs and more. I was drawn to Reform not just because of its policies but because of its professionalism and commitment to real change.”
Cllr Sutherland and Calderdale Council were contacted for comment.
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