. 

. 

Community Cohesion

Community cohesion is at the heart of safe and strong communities and is a key outcome for local government. Councils have a key role in promoting cohesion, as part of their community leadership and ‘place shaping’ role (creating places where people can thrive).

What Is Community Cohesion? 

Following the final report from the Commission on Integration and Cohesion (CIC) in June 2007, the Government has adopted a new definition:

“Community Cohesion is what must happen in all communities to enable different groups of people to get on well     together. A key contributor to community cohesion is integration which is what must happen to enable new residents and existing residents to adjust to one another.

Our vision of an integrated and cohesive community is based on three foundations:

1. People from different backgrounds having similar life opportunities
2. People knowing their rights and responsibilities
3. People trusting one another and trusting local institutions to act fairly.

   And three key ways of living together:

1. A shared future vision and sense of belonging
2. A focus on what new and existing communities have in common, alongside a recognition of the value of diversity
3. Strong and positive relationships between people from different backgrounds"

At its simplest, cohesion is about making an area a good place to live, in which people share a common vision and everyone feels welcome. In these areas, community tensions are reduced because different groups interact and trust each other and inequalities are being tackled.

Community Cohesion is a complex and broad subject and means different things in different areas. It is not exclusively linked to race issues. It encompasses various issues including race equality, faith, gender, age, economic disadvantage, class difference and rural issues.

However, these issues do not in themselves mean a community will lack cohesion.  It depends on how the different dynamics are managed and reducing the likelihood of community tensions

Community Cohesion has strong links with the equalities agenda and social exclusion / inclusion:

• Social Exclusion
  “Social Exclusion occurs when people or places suffer from a series of often multiple problems including: unemployment, poor skills, low incomes, poor housing, high crime environments, rural isolation, poor health and family breakdown” (Cabinet Office, Social Exclusion Unit)
• Social Inclusion
  “Social Inclusion is the term given to policies and procedures, through which the problems causing social exclusion are tackled. Social Inclusion is not simply a remedy; it is also about preventing the circumstances that lead to exclusion.” (Cabinet Office, Social Exclusion Unit)
• Community Cohesion
  “Community cohesion is about recognising the impact of change and responding to it. It is about people within communities coming together to interact and participate with one another. Community Cohesion is principally the process that must happen in all communities to ensure different groups of people get on well together” (Commission on Integration and Community Cohesion 2007).
• Equality: Access and Opportunities for All

Improving quality of life for those most at risk will help strengthen community cohesion.

Cohesion is a complex and broad subject. Delivery on community cohesion is dependent on the wider public sector, private sector, voluntary and community groups and communities themselves.

The new performance framework

The Government measures our performance through a set of National Indicators.

Community cohesion is an important theme in the new national indicator set of 198 targets. These 198 national indicators (NI) will monitor delivery of the Governments 30 Public Sector Agreements (PSA) which set out the public sector priorities for 2008-2011. 

The key national driver for Community Cohesion is PSA 21 which states the Government’s priority to “Build more cohesive, empowered and active communities”.

PSA 21 requires all local authorities to meet three targets from the National Indicator Set by developing communities:

• that maximise the benefits of diversity rather than fear it
• where individuals are empowered to make a difference both to their own lives and to the communities and wider environment in which they live
• where individuals are enabled to live active and fulfilled lives

The 3 National Indicators for cohesion are:

• NI1: Percentage of people who believe people from different backgrounds get on well together in their local area
• NI2: Percentage of people who feel that they belong to their neighbourhood
• NI4: Percentage of people who feel they can influence decisions in their locality

Cohesion will be measured through perception: The Place Survey. This will take place every 2 years on a District basis and at a county level. The first Place Survey was carried out in autumn 2008, and the Department of Communities and Local Government published the results in June 2009. Please click on the link to download the results. We will use these results to measure our improvement.

In addition to the perception indicators for cohesion there are also clear links between equalities, engagement and empowerment and cohesion. The are many other indicators that support strong and cohesive communities such as:

• NI6: Participation in regular volunteering
• NI7: Environment for a thriving third sector
• NI3: Civic participation in the local area
• NI140: Fair treatment by local services

The comprehensive area assessment (CAA) which comes into effect from April 2009, will also judge how successfully partners work together to achieve shared objectives and outcomes, including creating cohesive communities.

Contact

Tel: 01304 872314
E-mail: policy@dover.gov.uk

Find this page useful?
Please tell us what you think.