Council staff have considered leaving their roles or retiring early after comments from Reform UK leaders, a councillor has claimed.
Liberal Democrat Mark Wilkes suggested that comments made by the party nationally and locally have jeopardised officers’ roles.
It comes after Nigel Farage previously said council staff working on diversity or climate change initiatives should be “seeking alternative careers” after Reform UK took control of Durham council.
Cllr Wilkes also criticised the party’s messaging around its recent decision to remove diversity training for all councillors after members refused participation.
He told a Durham County Council scrutiny committee: “If you’re a sane person, would you feel comfortable at all working for an organisation where the political leadership might appear to be anti-staff? Even if they’re not, that might be what it appears to be.
“If you are somebody with a protected characteristic - perhaps a disability or from a minority background- would you want to come and work at Durham County Council right now when you see that kind of narrative in the press?
“I have heard of staff already wanting to leave or retire early.”
Reform said councillors were not legally required to take diversity, equality and inclusion training, and dismissed Cllr Wilkes' concerns as "utter nonsense".
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In May, Mr Farage warned council staff working on diversity or climate change initiatives to seek “alternative careers” after the party took control of the local authority. The local authority is believed to have just 1.8 full-time-equivalent diversity roles, which are connected to duties required by law.
Durham County Council was urged to maintain its roll of “quality” workers across several council departments to help deliver cost-effective services. Cllr Wilkes said: “You can't have a well-functioning council, and you can’t make savings, if you don’t have quality staff.”
The opposition councillor’s plea was supported by Reform’s John Cook, chair of the corporate overview and scrutiny management board, who said: “I agree. This should be a great place to work and our community should be a great place to live.”
Meanwhile, the party’s deputy leader, Darren Grimes, added: “He claims, without a shred of evidence, that staff are ‘wanting to leave’. This is pure political scaremongering.
“Let me be clear: there is no statistically significant change. The mass exodus he imagines exists only in his alarmist fantasies.”
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