SPECIAL safety training will be offered to local politicians who plan to canvas for votes in Oxford in the upcoming local council elections.

The personal safety training course is being offered to councillors and candidates who are competing for seats on Oxford City Council in the May election.

A report to Oxford City Council’s standards committee explained the need for the training course.

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It said: “Personal safety is unfortunately a significant issue for members at present. The council has offered conflict awareness training to elected members in March ahead of the May 2020 local elections for which they will be canvassing.”

The report said people who are standing as election candidates would also be offered the training through their election agents.

Another document attached to the council report was a council information sheet on how to spot threats to personal safety while canvassing.

It included tips for councillors like staying in well-lit areas, letting other people know where they are canvassing, and wearing flat shoes ‘which will not inhibit you if you need to run’.

Committee chair Shaista Aziz said the training reflected a ‘societal change’ which had seen politicians put at an increasing risk of abuse.

She added: “Sometimes if an individual does not feel safe then they may feel daft in a way, but they should trust their instincts. I think this is a shift in general society due to what is happening in the outside world.”

Committee member Sian Taylor asked if any thought had been given to online safety.

She said: “Whether or not anybody has had personal threats made I am not sure, but I think there is a general awareness you can be quite vulnerable online.”

The personal safety training sessions will be available for up to 15 people at any one time throughout March and will cost £500 a session from the city council’s budget.

When new councillors join Oxford City Council they have to undertake an induction course, with training in finance, safeguarding and how they are expected to behave.

Councillors at the meeting agreed the increasing awareness of domestic abuse needed to be covered in safeguarding training.

They also asked council staff to find out if some of the training courses on offer could be completed online, as not all councillors were able to attend the sessions.

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During the general election campaign candidates were given advice not to canvas on doorsteps too late into the evening for their own safety by police.

And the now re-elected Oxford West and Abingdon MP Layla Moran was the subject of a ‘safety concern’ during the campaign, which led to a hustings being cancelled.

In November, a total of 70 MPs decided to stand down, with many of them telling the BBC that the divisive nature of politics had influenced their decision.

On a local level, other initiatives are being put in place to prevent divides in society from leading to abuse.

In a move to heal some of the divides caused by Brexit and other debates, Oxford City Council launched an initiative called #WeAreOxford in January.