Claims of political bias levelled at £551k grant from Fairness Fund

The Conservatives have accused Labour of allocating council money to “a left-wing political movement” when it was intended for people in need and for the community and voluntary groups that help them.

Conservative councillor Anne Meadows said that Brighton and Hove City Council had allocated £67,000 from council’s Fairness Fund to Operation Black Vote.

It was one of several grant allocations for various causes totalling £551,000 for the coming financial year which starts next month. The grant was authorised when the council’s cabinet met last Thursday (20 March).

The Fairness Fund receives from donations, partnerships with energy companies and last year’s council budget surplus.

At last Thursday’s meeting cabinet members approved spending the money on 24 different projects, with more than £1 million going towards free school meals in the holidays.

Other allocations will support homelessness prevention, older people’s fuel payments, a youth advice centre, period poverty, family hubs and community kitchen projects.

Originally, the question from Councillor Meadows said: “Why is the council giving £67,000 of the Fairness Fund to Operation Black Vote – a left-wing political movement – for a civic leadership programme, instead of funding libraries which support all faiths and ethnicities yet are being cut?

“Are there any plans to help other minority groups in the city such as travellers and working-class boys and girls to engage in civic leadership programmes?”

When her question was published, the wording had changed. The phrase “left-wing political movement” was amended to say “which we consider to be a political movement”.

Councillor Meadows said: “Read their press release on Kemi Badenoch, the first black leader of a main political party in the UK, and you will clearly see their political bias.

“We are proud to have Kemi as our leader but this organisation says they only want black leaders ‘with values and approaches that resonate’.

“It is obvious to us. We should be able to state something obvious in our opinion and question the council, not pander to how they describe themselves.

“There is no criticism of Labour and so in our opinion, this is clearly a left-wing organisation. They are trying to fund another wing of the Labour Party. These taxpayer funds are going to a political movement.”

Councillor Meadows said that other organisations could deliver leadership courses rather than a political movement such as Operation Black Vote.

She asked the council’s legal team about the rules on funding political groups and was told that there was no specific rule that would prevent it.

She was told that the money going to Operation Black Vote was not for its campaigning arm but for support for civic leadership.

The Labour deputy leader of the council, Jacob Taylor, said: “The Brighton and Hove Fairness Fund has been set up help us to tackle financial inequality and support our aims to be a fair and inclusive city.

“People from black and racially minoritised communities are systemically and institutionally disadvantaged when it comes to employment and civic leadership.

“As a council, we are committed to increasing participation from our communities in local decision-making and the civic leadership programme is designed to increase representation in public duty roles.

“Our allocation plan for the Fairness Fund and Household Support Fund allows us to help mitigate the overall impacts of economic vulnerability, by providing a combination of safety net and support that aims to prevent households from experiencing crisis in the future.

“We are proud to support this programme through the Brighton and Hove Fairness Fund.”

In addition to the £551,000 Fairness Fund allocations, the cabinet also approved plans to allocate £3.8 million from the Household Support Fund thanks to a grant from a government department, the Department for Work and Pensions.