Events > Community Cohesion 2009: Reconnecting Local Authorities with their Communities

Event Details

Title:

Community Cohesion 2009:
Reconnecting Local Authorities with their Communities

in association with

Date:

Thursday 16th July 2009

Time:

10:00am – 5:00pm

Venue:

One Birdcage Walk, Westminster, London

“One of the Government's core principles for cohesion is the focus on the 'local' … Integrating new communities and promoting cohesion between existing groups, while being driven by national events and changes, is experienced, for the most part, at the local level: and at local level the experience can also vary greatly.”“…the financial crisis is not an excuse to stop thinking about cohesion, but to take it to the next level … This is a challenge that calls for local ingenuity, flexibility, working across public bodies, sharing resources and expertise, forging links with charities, community and voluntary groups. My message to local authorities and their partners is clear: no-one can afford to leave this to chance... ”
— Sadiq Khan MP, Communities Minister, April 2009

“When people feel anxious about their homes and jobs, opportunists are quick to stir trouble and set people from different backgrounds against each other. Empowerment can help bring those people together … Equally, when there are tough choices to be made about the allocation of finite resources, people are likely to be much more critical and unhappy about those decisions - and the bodies who make them - if they don't feel their voice has been heard. I believe empowerment can bridge that democratic gap, increasing trust in public services.”
— Secretary of State for Communities & Local Government, May 2009

Overview

In response to an extensive review conducted by the Commission on Integration and Cohesion in 2007, the Government launched a series of measures, including a 10 point action plan, to promote community cohesion through integration, better understanding and positive relations. Investing £50m across 3 years, the Government emphasised the importance of creating local solutions for local problems, within a wider environment of fairness and opportunity, under strong and engaged local leadership.

The changing migration landscape, development of young extremism and rising disengagement and resentment amongst some white working class sections of local communities poses new and complex challenges to local leadership. To address these trends, the Government has reinforced its commitment to tackling the phenomenon of “parallel lives” and achieving community cohesion through additional supportive measures, including:

£34m funding over the next 3 years for local authorities where cohesion poses the biggest challenges

£13.8m funding to tackle young extremism

Developing a cohesion delivery framework

This special National Conference, in association with the Institute of Community Cohesion, offers a timely opportunity for local stakeholders to examine how the current action plan can be implemented more effectively at the local level to ensure that the Commission for Integration and Cohesion’s vision of developing shared futures can be fully realised. The conference will consider the new challenges that local authorities and their partners face in reconnecting the ties that bind local communities together, transforming local leadership and providing fair and consistent access to public services for all members of their community. Delegates will have the opportunity to share best practice and network with colleagues from across the community cohesion, local authority and government landscape.

Programme