Communities and Local Government

• Communities and neighbourhoods
• Newsroom
• Speeches, statements and articles
• Preventing Extremism: Looking forward - local delivery in 08/09 and beyond

Communities and neighbourhoods

Preventing Extremism: Looking forward - local delivery in 08/09 and beyond

Date of speech	31 October 2007
Location	Queen Elizabeth II Conference Centre, London
Event summary	Preventing Extremism Conference

---

Transcript of the speech as delivered.

I'd like to just take a few minutes to emphasise some of the important points made so far, set out the process for moving forward into year 2, and then hand over to Ed Husain for some reflections on his personal experiences.

Focus

As we build on the Pathfinder year we expect not only the step change in approach and the increase in the breadth of work set out by Hazel, but an increased focus on what really matters.

This is not community cohesion by another name. Cohesive communities are important and we expect work in that area to continue. But whilst it is reasonable to expect that cohesive communities are places where it is harder for extremism to thrive, we have seen individuals, like those who have perpetrated attacks in this country, who can speak good English, play cricket and can outwardly seem well integrated into our societies. We need to ensure we're focussed on what more we need to do.

Likewise, this is not just about increased inter-faith work. Inter-faith structures and support have a role here. A strong role. I've just chaired a discussion on supporting faith institutions. It was clear that other faith communities do have a role in helping us build resilience to violent extremism. But, like community cohesion, increasing understanding between faiths is not on its own enough.

And as Sir Norman Bettison has made clear, violent extremism perpetrated (wrongly) in the name of Islam is the biggest threat facing us today. Far right extremists are dangerous and we must continue our work to confront the half truths many of them perpetrate. But we must not believe that addressing far right extremism will ensure events like 7/7 will not happen.

This work, then, must be seen in the context of our ongoing work to reduce race inequalities and our work to build community cohesion. Without them, work to prevent violent extremism would be meaningless. But we must recognise that there is additional work, focussed on a specific problem, which needs to be done and which must be a priority for you all.

Leadership

As Tony's just said, the importance a seamless response at both a local level and a national level is important. In creating that seamless response, drawing together a range of departments and interests, leadership is critical.

We've spent a lot of time focussing on the need for leaders within the Muslim community - and I'm pleased to see so many of them here today.

But local authorities, police officers, and the voluntary sector must also show leadership on this agenda. We recognise that this agenda can be difficult, it can be controversial. But the vast majority of people in communities recognise that there is an issue. And recognise that they have a role in helping to provide positive solutions.

You need to continue to work with those positive voices to develop a response which has the community at its very heart - which creates the space for communities to solve problems. Community driven, community led.

Leadership is vital. Local councils have deep roots in their communities, and local councillors are community leaders who can open doors. Chief Executives can ensure that this agenda is embedded across all aspects of local authority work. Police chiefs can ensure partnerships are developed.

I've seen some very positive examples of leadership from local partners on this agenda. Only the week before last I visited West London where local authority Chief Executives and Cabinet members took time out to present to me, along with their community contacts, their work on this agenda. That kind of senior buy-in is important in an agenda which is new and can be both difficult and challenging.

And as local authorities take up their place shaping role I know they will want to show leadership in combating violent extremism through positive work: developing strong values, engaging with young people, providing positive alternatives. They must ensure they can spot the most vulnerable and support them.

This visible leadership will be increasingly important as we seek to deliver the step change in this agenda that Hazel has asked of us all. As we have heard today, the threat we are facing is unprecedented. It's growing, and developing. It requires a long term response, but one which is flexible.

It requires a response which seeks to address all the drivers of radicalisation - be they linked to better engagement and stronger citizenship, or an understanding of religion and a sense of identity. All these need to part of your projects, programmes and actions being delivered at a local level by police, local authorities and others.

A cross-cutting response is, by its nature, difficult. It requires work which spans departments and policy envelopes. That has been a challenge for us centrally, and it will be a challenge for you locally. Tony's outlined some of the steps we are taking to expand our work centrally - bringing in departments like DCFS, DIUS and DCMS. And I know there is some good work being done locally - I launched the Pathfinder work in Birmingham and was impressed by the range of the projects and the thought that had gone into them.

Above all else a successful cross-cutting response needs personal leadership. It needs Chief Executives talking to Chief Constables, Council leaders talking to Police Authority Chairs, executive members talking regularly to each other.

And building strong leadership from within the community will remain vital, alongside that being shown by local authorities, police and education partners. I have already seen positive examples of that both in West London where the enthusiasm and commitment of groups like An-Nisa and HAAYA could not be doubted, and in Leeds where I meet with the next generation of leaders - a group of young people at the Hamara centre who are forming a Leeds Muslim Youth Forum.

Support

We, as central government, will continue to support you in developing this work. You have in your delegate packs details of work the IDeA are doing with local partners to build their capacity.

This includes both the development of a network of peers who can support you in the development and delivery of this work and the development of a web portal which follows on from this conference by encouraging a continued discussion of practice in different areas. Peers will provide you with support and advice from fellow councillors and officers. The web portal will provide you with case studies and with central advice and guidance. Both these mechanisms will be enablers - helping you to deliver better and supporting the step change that Hazel has called for.

One thing we haven't yet done at this conference is mention the support that the Government Offices have provided to this agenda. They have played a crucial role in joining this work up across regions, and in building capacity and understanding. They will continue to play that supporting role, managing the strategic relationships.

We in central government will also continue to provide direct support - by seeking to build and articulate the evidence base for this agenda. In particular through providing advice and guidance on the use of language and by clearly setting out the challenge that we face.

In this work we need to strike a balance between enabling local authorities to deliver, in line with the new style LAA delivery structures, and providing a clear articulation of our aims. It is clear to me that local partners will continue to look for strong engagement and support from central government. To this end we will look to publish a new guidance note in early December, with input from a number of Government departments, setting the scene for a second year of local delivery on this agenda.

That will allow you, as local partnerships, to work with your community and by building on the work being delivered this year, start to formulate a strategy for preventing violent extremism and strengthening communities over the next CSR period.

We will look to deliver three year settlements, and we hope to let you know exactly what your settlement will be, on an authority by authority basis, in early December.

Hazel has already outlined the step change in the amount of funding will be distributing to communities, through local authorities in the support of LAAs, over the CSR period.

In addition to providing a significant increase for those authorities who have already received money through the Preventing Violent Extremism Pathfinder Fund this year, we will provide funding to new areas in order to widen our work to prevent violent extremism.

We are committed to widening and broadening the scope of our work over the CSR period. This will include involving new areas and authorities - but we will want to strike the right balance for this and will do so in close consultation with you, our local partners.

Partnerships with those new to this agenda will therefore be important. The multi-area approaches already in place across areas like West London and Lancashire, and the partnerships between places like Bristol and Gloucester, provide a good basis on which to build.

We will look to provide details of our priority areas over the CSR period in due course, following the Secretary of State's announcement of an £45m to be paid to local partners for this work.

Andrew has set out today some of the good things his local authority has done, and some of the difficulties they have faced. We need to spread good practice, encourage everyone up to the level of the best, and continue to support you in overcoming difficulties.

Ultimately, preventing violent extremism should be as much a core part of local authority business as providing education services, community cohesion work or planning.

Conclusions

We focussed a lot at this conference on the benefits of mainstreaming this agenda: we've looked at working with schools and with faith institutions, universities and communities; we've looked at building leadership and providing positive alternatives. Hazel's also set out the need to ensure we work with the younger generations, the 5-15 year olds to equip them to reject the arguments of those who preach hate, and to work with Muslim women who are central to their families and their communities. She's made clear the importance of partnership working.

This is of course about stopping another 7/7, another Glasgow, another Haymarket. But it's much more than this. It's about building strong communities, proud to be Muslim, proud to be British. Communities that feel a welcome part of modern Britain and who are welcomed as such by wider society. Communities that are safe and secure places for young children to grow up and realise their full potential.

One of the community groups making a presentation on this agenda to me in West London said 'this doesn't feel like we're preventing violent extremism'. Well you are. But you're doing it by helping young people explore their identity. You're doing it by developing leadership, providing positive role models, building community capacity, providing a space for debate and by directly challenging a pernicious ideology.

Finally, I look forward to hearing from Ed who'll be reminding us, through his personal experiences, of what we're trying to prevent.