Social Inclusion,
Integration and Citizenship
Commission on Integration and Cohesion
The
Commission was a fixed term advisory body set up in June 2006.
Chaired by Darra Singh it reported to the Secretary of State
for Communities and Local Government in June 2007. The Commission was tasked to develop practical approaches
to integration and cohesion and consider how local areas can make
the most of increasing diversity and respond to the tensions that
this diversity can sometimes cause.
The Commission consulted widely and its findings are available in
its final report Our Shared Future along with a series of case
studies and think pieces.
Our Shared Future: The Commission's Report
The Commission's
report is built around four key principles:
- a sense of
a shared future;
- a new model
of rights and responsibilities with a clear sense of citizenship
nationally and locally;
- an ethics
of hospitality emphasising mutual respect and civility;
- a commitment
to equality accompanied by the need to deliver visibel social
justice.
The
report uses a broad definition of cohesion to encompass a process
needed across all groups (not just race and faith groups) to ensure
they get on well together. Integration is defined as a process that
ensures new residents and existing residents adapt to one another
and is explicitly distinguished from assimilation.
The
report contains 57 recommendations. Some of these, such as a suggested
presumption against funding single groups and adopting a selective
approach to producing translated material, have been controvertial.
Critics have argued that neither is of itself a barrier to integration
and they can form a vital support enabling communities to engage
with the mainstream. It is expected that the Commission and its
report will exert a major influence over integration policy in the
future.
For
further information on the Commission on Integration and Cohesion:
The
Department for Communities and Local Government website
The
Commission on Integration and Cohesion website
Commission on Integration and Cohesion (2007) Our Shared Future
|
Back to Index
Page of Migrants Opportunities Map |
|
