Lack of gender balance on new North Northants shadow council criticised

Leading female councillors have hit out at the lack of gender equality on the North Northants shadow authority and says things need to change.

Only two of the powerful shadow executive that will make decisions about the new North Northamptonshire unitary council are women, with the remaining eight places being taken by men.

And of the eleven new task groups set to be agreed later this week (June 11) at the first shadow executive meeting, women only make up a quarter of the 55 councillors at the table.

Corby Council’s deputy leader Jean Addison, who alongside Cllr Wendy Brackenbury is on the executive committee, said: “I don't think there is a gender balance or a diversity balance. However it was not in Corby’s (council’s) gift to do this. I find the whole set up very undemocratic.

“It leaves it very limited. We are not getting the viewpoints of other people. I’m of the view that we are good enough and I don’t want to be put on a committee because I am a woman. This is not the way we have operated in Corby.”

The four existing councils in Corby, Kettering, Wellingborough and East Northants will close down in April next year and the new unitary will amalgamate their services along with the services currently provided by Northamptonshire County Council, such as adult social care and highways.

The shadow council is the forerunner of the new council and has come up with the structure of 11 task and finish groups to look at different elements and make recommendations back to the executive who will then have the final say.

Some of the task groups have no female representation at all. The vision and culture group, which will map out the ethos for the new unitary council, is made up entirely of men, all of whom are over 50. The weight given to this task group is shown by it being chaired by the Government-appointed shadow leader Cllr Russell Roberts and his deputy Cllr Martin Griffiths is also on the group.

There are also no women on the disaggregation group, which will make recommendations to the executive about how to split up the services and budgets currently provided by the county council between the two new North and West unitaries and the council tax harmonisation group, which will put forward plans on how to bring into line council tax rates across the boroughs, is also without a female voice.

The majority of the committees are made up of four men and one women, apart from the senior appointments task and finish group which is made up of four women and one male councillor.

And Northamptonshire county councillor Cllr Victoria Perry, who has been appointed as vice chair of the new shadow council’s scrutiny committee, also thinks things need to change.

She said: “This is what we have got at the moment – and we can’t do anything about it. However it is about the future and we need to make sure we do better. I think we need to get more detail out there about what the job entails and how people can fit it into their lives.”

The new shadow council will make way for the new North Northamptonshire unitary next April, with elections to the new council in May 2021.