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This week I attended the latest in a line of training courses organised by the officers of Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council for the elected council members.
The course in question was a three hour session and the subject was ‘Fairness and Diversity’. This is a compulsory session for elected members and as usual I was the only councillor present.
This is the normal course of events so I have written the following press release:
Each year within Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council there is training provided for elected members. This year I have put my name down for many training sessions, quite a few of which have had to be cancelled because no other councillors wished to attend. On all but one of the training courses that have been run I have been the sole councillor in attendance. The course that other councillors did attend was 'Presentation and Public Speaking' which had half a dozen councillors.
Many of the training courses are provided by external professional training organisations at a cost of up to £1,000 per session with two sessions per course being the norm. One in the early afternoon and the other later in the evening to maximise the possible attendance. Not all councillors have other jobs so they have absolutely no excuse.
On December the 10th it was polling day for the Camp Hill by election and as usual all of the polling stations were manned by councillors from both the Labour Party and the Conservatives. If they can find time for this then why can they not attend training?
This week I attended the 'Fairness and Diversity' training which is a compulsory session for all elected members. Not only was I the only councillor in attendance I was congratulated by the trainer for being the first elected member ever to attend!
If the only course attended is 'Presentation and Public Speaking' then it is obvious to me that the other councillors on Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council only care about how they come across to the public in the newspapers and at election time and not a jot about how efficiently they perform their duties once elected.
Cllr Martyn Findley,
British National Party,
Nuneaton and Bedworth Borough Council.
I will be very pleased if this is published because it will show the public just what commitment they receive for the faith that they invest in us at election time.
Some may be concerned that a British National Party councillor attended a ‘Fairness and Diversity’ session. It was compulsory but I will be clear on this, I would have gone anyway.
If it was going to turn into a multicultural love in then I would have injected a sharp dose of reality to the proceedings. As it turns out the session was nothing of the sort. The incorrect thing to do would be to stay away.
The training provided on the day was well thought out, well presented and thought provoking. Well worth the effort in attending. The other councillors missed out not just on my company but also on an excellent training session which I thought could have been better described as ‘Interpersonal Communication Skills’ with a focus on think before you speak which is something that we all should do anyway.
I have no objection to offending people
by the roomful but it would be impolite
to do so by accident!
