Tuesday 26 March 2024
The Government has published The Khan Review: Threats to Social Cohesion and Democratic Resilience (25 March 2024), which includes fifteen substantial recommendations, and detailed considerations on a wide range of issues.
The Belong Network was pleased to be asked to contribute a background paper to inform this report. With colleagues at the University of Kent, we carried out a Rapid Review on Measuring Social Cohesion. We strongly welcome Dame Sara Khan’s recommendation that there should be a comprehensive assessment framework so that the state of social cohesion can be understood at at a national and local level, and so that people in local and national government have a shared approach and criteria for assessing progress towards a more cohesive society. This is something which Belong has long been calling for.
We will be studying the full Khan Review report carefully to understand all of the recommendations and their implications for our members and the wider social cohesion sector.
A general point is that we are pleased that the report serves as a renewed focus on social cohesion, something we believe is a key and pressing priority across the UK today. It is vital that social cohesion is recognised as something we can all play a part in building and maintaining and that focus is not placed unduly on one group or community.
As a network of over 130 organisations across the UK, our members work every day to bring people together across difference and overcome mistrust, division and polarisation.
The publication of this report provides an opportunity to draw on the expertise of our members and the research and best practice which already exists to provide insight and solutions that will genuinely meet the needs of communities across the country.
We now await the government strategy and action plan that the report calls for, and a commitment to engage with Belong, our members and the wider social cohesion sector further to build on this work together.
Belong will be hosting a series of online events over coming months to explore the full findings of the report and ensure that people from our member organisations have opportunties to share their perspectives, reactions and suggestions and to raise questions directly. Our members value Belong’s role in supporting their work and amplifying their voices, providing ways for diverse organisations from around the country to engage with government on this agenda going forward.
Join our mailing list to stay up to date with events or contact us on hello@belongnetwork.co.uk to find out more about becoming a member of the Network.