Open letter from domestic abuse charities to West Northamptonshire councillors

The charities are warning the inaction of the authority about new claims of domestic violence by former leader Jonathan Nunn is 'dangerous' and could set their work back years.

We wanted to send you this letter by Northants charities to West Northamptonshire councillors in full.

Dear Councillors/Council colleagues

We are writing to request urgent action be taken with regards to the widely publicised and numerous accusations of domestic abuse against Councillor Jonathan Nunn. As local specialist domestic abuse, sexual violence and violence against women and girls’ services, we are expressing our deep concerns over the handling of the situation to date, the messages this inaction send to victim survivors across the county and to protect the reputation of the Council and services in Northamptonshire.

The Council have said repeatedly that Domestic Abuse is a personal matter and investigation is a matter for the Police, this is a dangerous message. It is imperative that victim survivors know that their experiences will be listened to and that they will be believed if they come forward. It is a matter of life and death in some cases that we encourage the confidence to disclose. Inaction by the Local Authority “pending investigation” (particularly where it is known that no investigation is taking place) only serves to reinforce that domestic abuse has to be proven first, that your disclosure will not be believed, that your word alone is not enough, you don’t matter and nor does your pain; an idea that could literally cost lives.

Domestic abuse should not be tolerated at any level in our society; we appeal to you to proactively respond to these allegations to prove that victims will be believed, and that domestic abuse is not simply a matter for the Police, or only validated after investigation by the Police. As I am sure you are aware, only a third of victims contact the Police; therefore, framing it in this way is both damaging for our work in the sector and dangerous for victims, many of whom are not willing or not ready to speak to the Police.

In any other professional environment, an employee would be suspended pending investigation as soon as any complaint of this severity or number were recorded; it is curious and unfathomable that you would not do the same, at the very least to safeguard vulnerable people and to protect the reputation of West Northamptonshire Unitary Authority. In many sectors, suspension would be a preventative and protective measure (and not an assumption of guilt or predetermination of culpability). Mr Nunn represents the community of West Northants and as such is incontact with vulnerable people. Inaction has left this risk unmitigated.

While we are aware that Mr Nunn has now stepped down, regardless, by not taking a stronger stance on this, the implication is that the alleged activity by a councillor (and specifically the Leader of the Council) is not a serious matter, is not important, nor is it your business. Not only does this risk the immensely important work done so far in this County on domestic abuse and sexual violence via a strategy that is led by the Council, but it also risks setting our campaign against domestic abuse back years - and closer to where domestic abuse was seen as a private family matter that happened behind closed doors and definitely not talked about.

We ask you to seriously consider the ramifications of further inaction to avoid even more risk, damage and misunderstanding. The West, and indeed the County, is watching their Local Authority - and you have the unusual opportunity to send a strong message of zero tolerance to domestic abuse, which could influence generations to come.

We urge you to speak out and make this stand on behalf of victim survivors across Northamptonshire.

Signed

Northamptonshire Domestic Abuse Service

Nene Valley Christian Family Refuge (known as eve)

Northamptonshire Rape Crisis

Creating Equalz

Black Women’s Domestic Abuse Group

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Following the allegations that have been published and broadcast in the past two weeks about former leader of West Northants councillor Jonathan Nunn, only a few of the 63 Tory councillors who run the authority have spoken out. Over the weekend Cllr Anna King and Cllr Sam Rumens have joined Cllr James Hill and Cllr Cheryl Hawes in speaking out publicly about the allegations.

We will continue to report on this story as it develops throughout the week and will attempt to get some answers from interim leader Cllr Adam Brown, who so far has refused to speak out against his colleague. Jonathan Nunn continues to ‘strenuously deny the allegations made by a number of former partners against him.