Agenda item

To note the launch of the Westminster Community Cohesion Commission’s report, and the plans for the next steps.

6.1       Ezra Wallace (Head of Corporate Policy & Strategy) presented the report of the Westminster Community Cohesion Commission, together with the plans for the next steps.

6.2       Over the past year, the Community Cohesion Commission had undertaken a four-tiered, evidence-based approach to inform the City Council’s understanding of cohesion in Westminster. Information had been obtained through:

·        Reviewing national policy, literature and developments, including talking to experts and evaluating the Government’s position and response following major disturbances.

·        Analysing data obtained from local surveys, to gauge how residents felt about living in Westminster and how far communities were gelling together at a rudimentary level.

·        Benchmarking best practise with neighbouring authorities.

·        Extensive active engagement with Westminster’s residents, stakeholders and local groups, which included over 25 events and online public consultation.

6.3       Following the gathering of evidence, the findings and recommendations had been collated into a report that had been launched at a summit on 29 November. The next steps would be to work with the community over the next 6 months and develop a Community Action Plan to take forward the recommendations. The Scrutiny Commission noted that the Action Plan would be launched at the My Westminster Day next summer.

6.4       Members discussed the findings of the report, and the methodology that had been used, and noted that the Community Cohesion Commission had welcomed the opportunity to have open and honest discussions with so many people. In general, people had been proud to be a part of Westminster, particularly with regard to its diversity, cultural heritage, economy, and excellent schools. There were, however, some significant challenges to community cohesion which concerned housing, income inequalities, and how the City Council engaged with different parts of the community.

6.5       It had been acknowledged that community cohesion was not an optional luxury for Westminster, and that a cohesive community was a vital foundation for a successful and strong City. It had also been clear that community cohesion was everybody’s responsibility, with leadership coming from all levels in Westminster starting from the Leader, and continuing from Ward Councillors to faith leaders, community organisations, residents, businesses and visitors.

6.6       To ensure that Westminster was a City for All, the report had made three recommendations, which suggested that the City Council needed to:

·        Foster and encourage opportunities for meaningful interactions between people of different backgrounds, and do more to ensure that harder to reach groups had easy access to information and services.

·        Make sure that everybody felt safe and had a stake in the City; with fair access to education, employment, public services and use of community facilities including decent and affordable homes. The City Council also needed to work with businesses and voluntary and community groups, to develop a joint approach to connect with the community and deliver activities to strengthen cohesion.

·        Enable and encourage the sharing of values; such as pride of place, looking out for each other, and sharing community spaces. Members acknowledged that the City Council wanted to respond to the findings with ambition and pace, and it was hoped that Westminster’s partners would also work to implement them.

6.7       The Scrutiny Commission confirmed that it would be willing to take a role in scrutinising the proposed Action Plan; and to discuss how it would fit in with other programmes and how progress could be measured. An update on progress in the Action Plan would be discussed at the next meeting in March 2018.