A Labour councillor for Carlton has hit out after feeling ‘silenced’ when a question raised on Black History Month wasn’t answered publicly by council leaders at a recent meeting.
Errol Henry, who represents Carlton West, is currently Nottinghamshire County Council’s only black councillor.
Cllr Henry submitted a question to be asked during a full council meeting on September 22.
His question read: “Black History Month is very important to many residents in Nottinghamshire. Can the Leader outline what plans this Council have in place to mark the month?”
But the council’s constitution allows only one hour for questions, with any unanswered questions receiving a written response instead of a public answer at the meeting.
Councillor Henry claims his question was prioritised second to last, as the 19th out of 20 possible questions.
When his question wasn’t answered publicly during the allocated time, he remonstrated against the decision not to prioritise his time-relevant question.
Speaking after the meeting, Cllr Errol Henry said: “I had to stand up and say something. It just was not right.”
“Given the timing, the week before Black History Month, silencing me by putting my question at the back of the queue told me everything I needed to know about how the current Council leadership see this issue.”
But a written response from NCC leader Ben Bradley was issued to the councillor shortly after the meeting.
He wrote: “I was sorry to hear your frustrations at today’s Full Council meeting. As you are aware there were a total of 20 questions submitted for today’s meeting, it was always going to be a challenge to get through all of them.
“Yours was one of 9 questions that we were unable to answer within the 1 hour time limit.
“The Council will be recognising Black History Month this October with the theme of “Time for Change – Action Not Words” with a series of articles being published and new content being added to the Council’s intranet.”
He said that significant work has been undertaken to date to develop a Work Race Equality Standard action plan and embed this in the Council’s approach and culture.
“The Council works closely with our ICS partners, and this is particularly effective in the areas of equality, diversity, and inclusion.
“Whilst the significance of particular dates is important to mark progress and to reflect, these real actions will ensure the Council is a truly inclusive place to work.
Councillor Henry called Bradley’s response ‘absurd’
He said: “Showing ‘actions not words’? with a series of articles? No wonder the leader didn’t want to answer me in public – it’s an absurd response which reads like a bad joke.”
Cllr Henry said he now plans to ask the Leader’s Office whether the Council will provide an update on its performance of identifying workplace discrimination and how they intend to tackle it.
“In the spirit of ‘actions not words’, I will be asking the leader to commission a report demonstrating how it is performing on tackling workplace discrimination of Council staff and highlighting areas where, as I’m aware, it is still evidently a problem.”
“There are plenty famous examples in history where Black people have been expected to wait at the back or had our voices silenced. The fact it is still ongoing in today’s society shows why Black History Month is as important now as ever.”
