WWW.IPPR.ORG/NORTH BuildingCommunities ofTrust:Community CohesionintheNorth Eventreport bySallyHole August2009 ©ippr2009 InstituteforPublicPolicyResearchNorth Challengingideas– Changingpolicy 2 ipprnorth|BuildingCommunitiesofTrust:CommunityCohesionintheNorth– Eventreport Aboutipprnorth ipprnorth,theNewcastle-basedofficeoftheInstituteforPublicPolicyResearch,produces far-reachingpolicyideas,stimulatingsolutionsthatworknationallyaswellaslocally.These areshapedfromourresearch,whichspanseconomicdevelopment,regeneration,public servicesanddevolutionaswellasastrongdemocraticengagementstrandwhichinvolvesa widerangeofaudiencesinpoliticaldebates. ipprnorth,2ndFloor,20CollingwoodStreet,NewcastleUponTyneNE11JF Tel+44(0)1912339050|www.ippr.org/north RegisteredCharityNo.800065 ThispaperwasfirstpublishedinAugust2009.©ipprnorth2009 3 ipprnorth|BuildingCommunitiesofTrust:CommunityCohesionintheNorth– Eventreport Introduction ThisreportreflectsontheipprnorthconferenceBuildingCommunitiesofTrust:CommunityCohesion intheNorth.Theeventwasheldon29June2009inSunderland,supportedbyGentooGroupand SunderlandCityCouncil.Theconferencewasattendedby100delegatesfromstatutory,private, voluntaryandcommunitysectors.DelegateswerepredominantlyfromtheNorthEastbutalso includedrepresentativesfromacrosstheNorthofEnglandandScotland. Theconferencesoughttoexploretheroleoflocalauthoritiesandthirdsectororganisationsin buildingtrustandcohesioninallcommunitiesacrosstheNorth,askingwhatparticularchallengesthe regionfacesandhowpositiveconnectionsbetweencommunitiescanbefostered.Wedefine‘third sectororganisation’hereasvalue-driven,non-governmentalorganisations,encompassingvoluntary andcommunityorganisations,charities,socialenterprises,cooperatives,mutualsandhousing associations. Thisreportisseparatedintotwoparts.Thefirstsectiongivesasummaryofthepresentationsmadeby BobbyDuffy,ManagingDirectorforIpsosMORISocialResearchInstitute,DaveSmith,Chief ExecutiveforSunderlandCityCouncil,andGrahamBurgess,ChiefExecutiveforBlackburnwith DarwenBoroughCouncil.ThesectionalsoincludesasummaryofthekeynotespeechbyShahidMalik MP,MinisterforCommunityCohesion,DepartmentforCommunitiesandLocalGovernment,inhis firstpublicspeechonbecomingMinister.Thesecondsectiondiscussesthekeythemesandquestions raisedinthediscussiongroupsthatclosedthemorningsession.Thesummarydoesnotattemptto encompassallthatwasdiscussed,butratheroffersanoverview,illustratedwithconcreteexamples. Keymessagesfromtheconference: •Trustiscentraltobridgingandlinkingsocialcapitalanddevelopingcohesivecommunities. •Bettercommunicationbetweenthecouncilandcommunitieshelpstobuildtrust. •Councilsneedtopromotevisiblesocialjustice,increasedcontactandconsistencyof information,transparencyandaccountability. •Communitiesneedtobemoreinvolvedinlocaldecision-makingandfeelownership.Local peoplearebestplacedtounderstandtheproblemstheyfaceandcontributetothesolutions. •Cohesionshouldnotbeconfinedtoissuesofraceandfaith.Itisaboutbringingtogetherall aspectsofacommunity. •Communitiesarenotreceptivetocohesionjargon,whichfeelsintangible. •Peoplearemostinterestedinlocalissuesandconcernsthataffectthem. •Meaningfulinteractionhelpspeopletolearnaboutthecommonalitiestheyshare,andbuilds mutualunderstanding. •Communitycohesionmustbeaconstantissueonacouncil’sagenda. •Cohesionstrategymustrunthroughthewholecouncil,embeddedinthecouncil’scorporate visionandstrategy. •Allcouncilstaffshouldbetrainedandawareofthecouncil’scohesionstrategy.Itmustbeseen toberelevanttoeverybody’sjob. •Thecohesionagendaalwaysneedsrevisingandfine-tuning.Localauthoritiesneedtobe willingtolearnfromtheirmistakes. •Astrongpartnershipapproachisvitalforcohesionandtensionmonitoring. •Thethirdsectorhasanimportantroleinbuildingsocialcapitalandcohesivecommunities. •Localauthoritiesandthethirdsectorneedtoworktogetheronthecohesionagenda,and thereneedstobeastrongerdialoguebetweenthem. •Tounderstandcommunitiesandtensions,weneedtolookbeyondadministrativegeographies. 4 ipprnorth|BuildingCommunitiesofTrust:CommunityCohesionintheNorth– Eventreport 1.BuildingtrustandcohesionacrossNorthernneighbourhoods BobbyDuffy,ManagingDirectorforIpsosMORISocialResearchInstitute openedwithanemphasis ontheimportanceoftrustinbuildingpositiveconnectionsandsocialnetworksbetweenpeople, knownassocialcapital.Heexplainedthatrelationshipsbetweenpeoplefromdifferentbackgrounds (‘bridging’socialcapital),andconnectionsbetweencommunitiesandinstitutions(‘linking’social capital)(Schmuecker2008b),requirestrustandunderstanding. Hebeganbyarguingthatourtrustineachotherhashalvedinthelast50years,withonly30percent ofpeoplestatingthatmostpeoplecouldbetrustedtoday.Despitethisgeneraldeclineintrust, politicianshavealwayssat‘inamireofalackoftrust’atthebottomofopinionpolls.Heexplained thattherehasbeen,however,ashiftinperceptionsofpoliticians’motivations,withthemajorityof peopletodayseeingpoliticiansasoutforthemselves. HethenspokeaboutthecohesionfindingsofthePlaceSurvey,apostalsurveythataskslocalpeople fortheirperceptionsabouttheareainwhichtheylive,conductedbyalllocalauthorities.Inthis survey,thethreekeycommunitycohesionindicatorsare: 1.NI1:percentageofpeoplewhobelievepeoplefromdifferentbackgroundsgetonwelltogetherin theirlocalarea 2.NI2:percentageofpeoplewhofeelthattheybelongtotheirneighbourhood 3.NI4:percentageofpeoplewhofeeltheycaninfluencedecisionintheirlocality. Comparingoverallcohesion(NI1)in2006withNI1in2008,BobbyDuffyexplainedthatthereisa trendofdecliningcohesionintheUK.ThisisalsothetrendintheNorthEast,wherethelocal authoritiesofSunderland,RedcarandCleveland,andMiddlesbroughranklowestinNI1,and Tynedale,AlnwickandCastleMorpethrankthehighest,althoughitwasstressedthatthereisnota hugevariationinNI1intheregion. Ifthereisanationaltrendtowardsdecliningcommunitycohesion,wehavetoaskwhy.BobbyDuffy arguedthatitisimportanttolookatpeople’sperceptions,andthattherehasbeenanational hardeningofviews,particularlyontheissueofimmigration.Todaypeopleseeimmigrationasoneof themainissuesfacingtheUK,themajorityofpeoplethinkthatimmigrationisbadforBritain,and therehasbeentwofoldincrease(from12percentin2005to25percentin2008)inpeoplewhofeel thattheirareadoesnotfeellikeBritainbecauseofimmigration.Thisreflectsageneralshiftinvalues awayfrommulticulturalismandsupportforminoritylifestyles,andmorebeliefinacommonsetof values,increasedtraditionalismandnostalgiaforhowtheUKusedtobe. IpsosMORIresearch(DuffyandLeeChan2009)hasfoundthatthecontextofanareahelpsexplain people’sperceptions,andthiscanbeusedtopredictlevelsofcohesion.Bycomparingcohesion findingswiththeIndexofMultipleDeprivation,BobbyDuffyillustratedthatthehigherthelevelof deprivationinanarea,thelowerthepercentageofpeoplethatperceivepositiverelationships betweenpeoplefromdifferentbackgrounds(NI1). Therelationshipbetweeneducationlevelsandlevelsofcohesionwasalsoshowntobeverystrong, whereasthereisvirtuallynorelationshipbetweencohesionandlevelsofethnicdiversity.Acasein pointisthecomparisonbetweentheCityofLondonborough,whichhasoneofthehighestlevelsof perceivedcohesionandtheboroughofBarkingandDagenham,whichhasoneofthelowestcohesion scores.Theseareasinfacthaveverysimilarlevelsofethnicdiversity,butverydifferenteducation profiles,withonly10percentofresidentswithoutanyqualificationsintheCityofLondon,whilein BarkingandDagenham40percentofresidentshavenoqualifications.TheNorthEastauthority areas,withanaverage35percentofresidentswithoutqualifications,1 fitsthistrend,rankingbetween 70and80percentonthecohesionmeasure. 1.Basedon2001Census.SeeNationalStatistics(2003) 5 ipprnorth|BuildingCommunitiesofTrust:CommunityCohesionintheNorth– Eventreport BobbyDuffyreflectedthat72percentofanarea’scohesionscorecanbepredictedbyknowingsix backgroundcharacteristics: 1.Proportionofpeopleinroutinemanualoccupations 2.Educationdeprivationmeasure 3.Under-occupancyofhomes 4.Proportionofpopulationunder10yearsold 5.Region 6.ProportionofpopulationfromPakistan. Predictingcohesionmeansthatwecanthenseewhoisout-performingtheirlocalconditionsand increasingcohesion,whichisthecaseforLeicester,Harlow,CorbyandLuton,aswellaswhoisunder- performing.IntheNorthEastthereislittlevariationbetweenpredictedcohesionandactualcohesion. BobbyDuffywentontointroducetheIpsosMORI/GeofuturesNationalIndicatorMapping Application(NIMA)whichallowsageographicalvisualisationofPlaceSurveydata.Thetoollooks beyondadministrativegeographies,illustratingcross-bordereffectsandpatternsthattraditional mappingwouldnotpickup,forexamplehowdissatisfactioninanareaspreadsacrossward boundaries.Heconcludedthatalthoughresearchindicatesthatthereisastrongrelationshipbetween populationstructureandcohesion,theoutcomeisnotinevitable,andstepscanbetakentobuild communitycohesion.WiththehelpofapplicationssuchasNIMA,thereneedstobeafocusonreal localneighbourhoods,tounpickwhatishappeninglocally,andtargetresponsesaccordingly. Regionalresponses:howcanwefosterpositiveconnectionstobridgeour changingcommunities? DaveSmith,ChiefExecutive,SunderlandCityCouncil highlightedtheimportanceofcommunity cohesionforSunderland’sjourneyofregenerationandrenewal.HegaveanoverviewoftheInstitute ofCommunityCohesion(iCoCo)Sunderlandreview,2 identifyingfourkeythemesthatthecouncilwill befocusingon:(1)strengthofbelonging,(2)impactofdeprivation,(3)intergenerationalissuesand (4)valuingdiversity. HedescribedthestrongsenseoflocalplaceandneighbourhoodbelongingandprideinSunderland, butacknowledgedthatSunderlandislikea‘collectionofvillages’becausetheideaofbelongingto thecity isverylow.ThusthechallengeforSunderlandistorelearnwhatcommunitycanbe.He explainedthatsomecommunitiesinSunderlandareinsularandunwelcoming,andmanypeopleare notinthepositiontomakethemostofopportunitiesandreapthebenefitsoftheregenerationthat