A welcoming start, but more needs to be done

Warm Welcome Campaign Director David Barclay reflects on the government’s policy paper on social cohesion, published at the beginning of March.

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“Last week I had the privilege of participating in a roundtable event in Parliament on the Government’s new Social Cohesion Action Plan. Here are my four big takeaways from the conversation:

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The first thing to say about the Action Plan is that it is hugely welcome, and long overdue. The riots following the horrific mass stabbings in Stockport in July 2024 were a wake-up call that Britain’s proud and internationally recognised success in building a diverse but cohesive society was under strain like never before.

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The fact that it has taken almost two years for the Government to develop and publish a strategic response to rising polarisation and social unrest does not reflect particularly well on its ability to lead in this area. Nonetheless, better late than never, and it still feels significant and welcome to read what is set out in the report. With the Far Right on the rise and another difficult summer likely ahead, it is indeed timely to have a government looking to take a lead in promoting cohesion and connections across difference.

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The second point to make about the social cohesion action plan is that it is fairly obviously inconsistent with other government policies, and probably deliberately so. There is a feeling of intellectual whiplash that comes from reading the promise of

“strong collaboration with local government and the voluntary and community sector to deliver a community-led approach to integration” when just a few days earlier the Home Secretary had been announcing the end to the long-standing principle that being granted refugee status in the UK would set someone up to build a long-term home here.

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Though the Action Plan attempts to square the circle of a commitment to cohesion and recent immigration policy changes, there is clearly a war going on behind the scenes over the Labour stance on migration and integration, and this document represents a (hugely welcome) push back against the increasingly hostile rhetoric and policy driven from the Home Office. What happens in that broader battle will presumably go quite a long way to determining whether this Action Plan ends up becoming a serious part of the Government’s plans for the coming years or not.

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Another key thing to watch in the implementation of the Action Plan is whether the Government is able to move from scattered programmatic efforts to more strategic ones. As with many Government strategy documents, there is a noble effort in the Action Plan to bundle together a number of existing policies and financial commitments into something resembling a coherent whole - money for libraries, funding for places of worship, commitment to school linking projects, the extension of the Near Neighbours programme, new Pride in Place areas etc etc.

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But there are some obvious areas where a more strategic approach could yield some significant a much-needed progress. One is community spaces, which are clearly a necessary condition for community connection and encounter across difference.

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Instead of parcelling out small pockets of money in distinct programmes to libraries, faith spaces, social clubs etc, the Government could develop a holistic strategy for the protection and expansion of community spaces across the UK. Indeed this could be a brilliant opportunity for a cross-Governmental approach, for example drawing in the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero to consider how to relieve the burden of sky-high energy bills for community spaces and equip them with the latest green technology needed to make them fit for a Net Zero future and beacons for energy transition in their neighbourhoods.

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Another area where a move from programmatic to strategic would be hugely welcome would be in the training and equipping of local leaders. There is a clear recognition that social cohesion relies on local leadership to bring people together. But to truly tap into and unlock this potential that lies in every community we need much more sophisticated infrastructure in terms of training, funding and connecting people committed to this work across the UK.

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If the Far Right can mobilise in an instant in communities up and down the country, those seeking cohesion need to have the same capabilities, not necessarily controlled by Government but certainly enabled and resourced. With the forthcoming Million Acts of Hope initiative looking set to activate thousands of community groups across the UK in May, it is the perfect time to consider how this Army of community leaders could be trained and tooled up for the long term.

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The final point to make is that social cohesion would be the perfect topic for the Mission-driven, partnerships-focused Government we were promised in the aftermath of the last election.

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The Action Plan rightly recognises that cohesion cannot be mandated or implemented top-down, but rather needs to be forged by the collective endeavour of all sections of society at every geographical scale.

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There is perhaps not enough mentioned about the role of business in helping bring people together and promote thriving local communities, or the leadership potential of Mayors in this area.

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But all of that could be woven in, if there was a sustained collaborative focus and intent from the very top of Government on this topic. Hopefully the newly installed Civil Society Council will prove to be a significant asset in this regard, helping to turn this worthy and significant Action Plan into the action our country desperately needs.”

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