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Resources to support councils in building more equal, inclusive and cohesive communities.
Councils have role to play in building cohesive communities, which are places that:
- offer a common vision and a sense of belonging for all
- positively value diversity
- provide equal opportunities to people from different backgrounds and
- Provide an environment where strong and positive relationships can be developed between people from different backgrounds in the workplace, in schools and within neighbourhoods.
Promotion of equality is integral to building community cohesion. Local cohesion may be undermined where some groups have different experiences or outcomes to others, especially where linked to a group’s protected characteristics (though difference of opportunity may not necessarily be related to protected characteristics alone).
Councils have a role in helping to tackle inequalities and related issues, such as fostering good relations across and between communities and supporting efforts to prevent extremism and tackle hate crime, including against those with protected characteristics.
This page provides resources to support councils in building more equal, inclusive and cohesive communities.
Resources
- A matter of justice: local government’s role in tackling health inequalities: Local government’s role in tackling health inequalities, the significance of health inequalities and how these apply to different groups.
- Building cohesive communities: Tools and key service areas that can support local cohesion work, bringing together some of the theoretical approaches highlighted in recent work with good practice and ideas collected from councils across the country.
- Care and Health Improvement programme (CHIP): Support for lead members, health and wellbeing boards, officers and their teams working in social care and integration, including as this relates to people with learning disabilities or autism (and others with protected characteristics_.
- Climate justice: Tools and resources to identify and support those most at risk from the impacts of climate change.
- Community cohesion and hate crime: A collection of useful documents and links to support councils in tackling challenges relating to community cohesion and hate crime.
- Diversity is central to communication teams’ success: Practical steps communications teams can take to ensure that teams are diverse and capture a range of experiences.
- Government hate crime campaign and True Vision: Resources to identify and report hate crimes, alongside additional information.
- LG Inform report on cohesion and integration, developed in partnership with MHCLG, to help councils consider the cohesion and integration challenges in their community.
- Reshaping financial support: How councils can help to support low-income households in financial difficulty, which may include people with protected characteristics.
- Special Interest Group on Countering Extremism: A network for local authorities providing support and advice on cohesion and counter extremism
- Understanding new accessibility requirements for public sector bodies: An explanation of what public sector bodies need to do to meet legal accessibility requirements.