Agenda item

Members were provided with a briefing paper and introductory presentation from the Council’s Stronger Communities Officer on the policy context and national picture on Community Cohesion within Hillingdon. She set out some of the challenges (risk factors) and positive factors that impact on cohesion within all communities, as a model for discussion.

Challenges (Risk Factors) included:

• Rapidly changing demographics and diversity within localities.
• The perception of the fairness of allocation of resources and provision of services to meet the needs of the whole community.
• Socio-economic pressures on individuals, families and localities.
• Inequality of opportunity for individuals to achieve in education and employment.
• Perceptions of crime and anti social behaviour within communities.
• The influence of extremist groups within communities that can promote tensions and influence individual’s perceptions of fairness and inequalities in communities.

Positive factors which could build and strengthen community cohesion included:

• Knowing and understanding what comprised the Borough’s community and what their needs and concerns were.
• Positive engagement through social, sport and cultural activities.
• Ensuring local people had a voice and a say in how services were delivered.
• Ensuring fair access to services.
• Open and transparent decision-making.
• Designing services that enabled individuals to take responsibility for their own well-being.

The Stronger Communities Officer provided details on the range of activities and approaches being undertaken in Hillingdon to address risk factors and promote the preventative factors.

Hillingdon’s approach to Community Cohesion was to recognise where the positive contributions were taking place and to build on those in order to underpin the resilience within communities. Improving knowledge of what works and what would help would reduce these risks.

The Committee was informed that the Strong and Active Communities Partnership which was established in April 2009 as a theme group to the Hillingdon Partners Executive, was responsible for delivering the key priorities around strong and active communities. This partnership had established strong working relationships between the Council and its partners in responding to local community cohesion issues and developing pro-active and positive models of community development activities and engagement.

Reference was made to the Partnerships priority areas of work which included:

• targeted local area partnership working,
• the promotion and increase of residents’ involvement in leisure and cultural activities across the Borough,
• Monitoring of community tensions and local issues, working with partners to respond accordingly and appropriately and to inform future priorities.

During discussion of examples of work on Community Cohesion in Hillingdon, reference was made particularly to the importance of working with local schools, driven through Carole Jones, Chair of Strong and Active and local Head Teacher, and also, of working with women’s’ groups such as was being undertaken through the Women in the Community Network.

The Committee agreed that the views of representatives from these groups be sought during the review.

Scope of Review

The Committee agreed that the aim of the review should be around examining how Council services were working in order to mitigate community cohesion risk factors and building upon the positives that underpinned resilience in communities. Including a particular focus in relation to the perception of fairness, transparency and equality of access.

Members requested that suggested witnesses included an officer from Corporate Communications, to enable the review to assess how the Council’s Proud campaign was promoting community cohesion through the provision of information to residents about the Council’s services. Also to invite officers from Adult Education, libraries and sports and leisure centres to examine how the Council was enabling local residents to be more actively involved in their communities.

Carole Jones, Chair of Strong and Active and Head Teacher to explore outcomes in schools and also to invite members of the Women in the community network to provide a community perspective.

Members also agreed that it would be useful to Look at how the Council was gaining feedback on Community Cohesion risk factors / positive factors through feedback from residents such as in the Residents’ survey.       

RESOLVED –

1.      That officers, in consultation with the Chairman of the Committee, be asked to draft a scoping report based on the discussion which took place at the meeting.

2.  That officers be given the authority to invite relevant witnesses to the next meeting of the Committee to help with the review.