Agenda item

The Council’s Stronger Communities Manager and Prevent Lead introduced a report that outlined what action the Council took to reach out to all communities to promote cohesion.

Members heard that the promotion of community cohesion by the Council was underpinned by partnerships, not only with other statutory agencies, but also alongside the voluntary sector and diverse communities, and this work is done through partnership working with the Council’s communications team, and also events and activities that are provided to Hillingdon residents. 

The Council identified three key groups to engage with, and these were women, particularly isolated women from different community backgrounds, faith communities, and children and young people. It was noted that if the work can reach young people, it can often reach their parents, families and wider community.

It is important to ensure that all communities have access to services, and Members heard that it was important to utilise libraries and community events to help people engage, not just from different faith or ethnicities, but also ages, genders and residents with disabilities, as the events were a good way of bringing people together.

The Committee commended the comprehensive report before them, and noted that it highlighted the huge amount of work the Council do on community cohesion.

Responding to Councillors’ questioning, the Stronger Communities Manager and Prevent Lead confirmed that the Stronger Communities Partnership, predominantly made up of external partner agencies, meet quarterly and aim to look at how the Council is working to develop its programmes that feed into local strategic priorities.

Members asked how the Council was reaching those women who were not part of women’s groups and may have been identified as in need of extra support, and were informed that the Council works alongside a lot of different community organisations and voluntary sector groups, and the library services are also involved in comprehensive work that includes people with dementia or mental health needs. The Committee heard that activities are promoted by many different areas to bring people together, and community events are a good opportunity for this. 

The Stronger Communities Manager and Prevent Lead stated that to reach isolated people in the Borough, many different parts of the Council were involved. It is hard to map exactly where all these opportunities are, but there is a strong grants sector which is funded by the Council that can help to reach out to these people too. Members heard that it building relationships with communities that do not engage the Council.

The Committee were informed that the Stronger Communities Manager and Prevent lead worked alongside colleagues, leading on Hayes Fun Day, and have worked hard to get a lot of people involved. However, across the voluntary sector it is harder to get people to volunteer at events such as the Fun Day, but there is still a good level of diversity that is increasing at the event, despite these challenges.

Responding to questioning from Members, the Stronger Communities Manager and Prevent Lead noted that there used to be a national survey that was used to measure the levels of success with community cohesion, but as this no longer takes place, other measures must be used. The Council considers factors such as social unrest, groups that promote divisive ideals and hate crime, but as there are few instances of this in Hillingdon, it is important to look at other factors that may not be as prevalent as community engagement. The Committee heard that should tensions arise, it was quite usual for communities to come together, but it was difficult to find this fact out before the tensions arose, so it was important to keep tabs on community dynamics with the police to mitigate any issues. However, the way that partnerships work across the Borough was very positive and there were a lot of services on hand to help.

Members asked what action the Council took to prevent disharmony, and were informed that the Stronger Communities Manager and Prevent Lead works with officers and the Police to monitor social media, and where issues arise, look at how the issue was being challenged by others on social media. Councillors heard that it was important to see how others are responding and let the issue play out, and then action to intervene can be taken if necessary, but this action must be a measured response. However, if others from Hillingdon’s communities are already challenging this behaviour, it can be much more powerful than a response from the Council. The Committee was informed that officers look at what is going on and escalate where required, but communities must feel empowered to take these issues on themselves, and the Council is good at allowing this.

The Stronger Communities Manager and Prevent lead, responding to questioning, noted that safeguarding children who were not in mainstream education was a challenge, and officers work collaboratively, and be aware of who are utilising venues, before putting early alerts in place should there be concerns, but there are challenges in terms of the Council’s statutory powers.

The Committee thanked the Stronger Communities Manager and Prevent Lead for their report, which was noted.

RESOLVED:That the Committee note the report on Community Cohesion.