There is an interesting report in the Daily Telegraph about how Camden Council is changing its procurement policies so as to “work with businesses whose values align with our own, and to use our position of power to positively influence”. The Council states:
“We are beginning to ask businesses to demonstrate their commitment to LGBTQ+ equality before we procure them.”
The report adds:
“Other measures brought in to increase inclusion at the local authority include introducing trans awareness sessions, partnering with Stonewall and Proud Employers, and celebrating dates on an inclusion calendar, including a Bi Visibility Day and Transgender Day of Remembrance.
“The council has also consulted residents on plans to increase “diversity in the public realm” as part of a mayoral push to cover ‘all protected characteristics and intersectionality.’ “
If the new procurement policy means anything at all then it means that these ideological requirements could trump value for money. A firm that tendered for a contract, and able to offer a lower price and better quality, would not be chosen unless its “values” could be shown to “align” with Camden Council’s – for instance on the controversial issue of transgenderism.
Yet best value statutory guidance says:
“Authorities should avoid gold-plating the Equality Act 2010 and should not impose contractual requirements on private and voluntary sector contractors, over and above the obligations in that Act. Local authorities should seek to remove unnecessary paperwork and obstacles to contract compliance thereby making it easier for small and medium firms and the voluntary sector to apply and bid for contracts, and lowering costs to taxpayers.”
This type of requirement from Camden Council is especially offputting for smaller firms who might otherwise tender for contracts. Such corporate giants such as Serco or Capita can absorb box-ticking effortlessly. For them, it helps thwart plucky competitors. The Council Taxpayer, and small businesses, are the victims.
Perhaps some firms will make the effort to comply with the council’s demands. Thus the council’s thought control empire extends from its direct employees to its suppliers. They too have to comply with awareness days, inclusion celebrations, policed pronouns, allowing men to use women’s lavatories, etc. It is an attack on free speech. Indeed it goes beyond that. Silence is not sufficient in woke ideology. Staff are compelled to state they agree with all manner of offensive nonsense.
This is not unique to Camden. They are following the demands of Stonewall to comply with its “Workplace Equalities Index.” It proposes “do not award the contract” or “require improvements as a condition of contract” when a “potential supplier does not meet LGBTQ+ inclusion scrutiny.” In 2022 the “top 100” Stonewall employers included Camden Council. The 2023 list includes Cardiff Council, Leicestershire County Council, Leeds City Council and Oxfordshire County Council. They will doubtless have had to impose some pretty draconian woke demands to be included in this roll of honour.
I hope that Michael Gove will write to Camden Council instructing them to follow the legal guidance not to “impose contractual requirements” over and above the Equality Act 2010. After all, Gove has written to them previously. Last August, he declared of their council housing management:
“The Regulator’s investigation has found the Council to be non-compliant with the Home Standard due to fire safety failures across thousands of your homes. These include more than 9,000 overdue fire remedial actions, with 400 of these being high-risk actions that should have been completed within no more than 30 days in the majority of cases. To compound this, the Regulator found that there were more than 9,000 properties which did not have a hard-wired smoke alarm installed, and just under 4,000 properties without a carbon monoxide detector. It is extremely concerning that so many of your tenants were put at risk in such a way, and I have no doubt that these findings will have caused them much anxiety, stress, and frustration.”
Perhaps Camden Council staff were too busy attending diversity seminars to deal with such mundane matters.
What does Sir Keir Starmer think of Camden Council’s approach? As well as being Labour leader he is a local Camden MP. He has said he is “very proud of Camden Council.”
At least the current law in England (supposedly) provides some constraint to the way Camden Council is imposing its views on private businesses. But consider the contrast in Wales. The Welsh Government’s “LGBTQ+ Action Plan for Wales” states it will:
“Consider how to adopt an inclusive approach to procurement which reduces and removes real and perceived barriers to diverse suppliers bidding for Welsh Government contracts. Explore how to set meaningful short-, medium- and long-term targets to increase the diversity of Welsh Government’s supply chains. As a first step, we will analyse Welsh Government’s supply chains to determine the current level of supplier diversity.”
Sir Keir has said that what Labour is doing in Wales offers “a blueprint for what Labour could do across the UK.”
The Conservative Government should act to uphold the law and prevent local authorities from undermining freedom of expression. But we should also warn that under a Labour Government, matters would be much worse. Sir Keir wants to follow the direction being taken in Wales and Camden.