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Date of speech	6 July 2006

1. This is a great opportunity for me to set out some of our thinking on community cohesion - particularly given the date today and the anniversary tomorrow. What I want to talk about is what makes up a 'healthy body politic'.

2. One of the things that has changed since last year is that I am not only Minister for Local Government but Minister for Community Cohesion, Race and Faith as well. I welcome this change in the machinery of Government because I believe it gives us a real opportunity to push ahead with important work in these areas. This is decades overdue and the move from the Home Office to Communities and Local Government marks a shift in the Government's support of these issues. Local government has to be at the heart. Being in the same department as policy for police and prisons sent the message 'you are a problem'. The changes bring together responsibility for what makes a place - with a firm focus on improving people's lives, on the ground, in our communities.

3. In an increasingly diverse society, we need to find common threads that help us navigate through tensions between different sections of different communities. Local government has an important role here. We need two things - a clear framework for going forward and to identify what you haven't got that you need to have.

4. I think we all recognise there have been - and will continue to be - events that pose serious questions about how we can get along together. Not only as thriving neighbouring communities, but also more widely as an inclusive and equal society.

5. I believe we live in a time when tensions arise from a more complex picture of relationships within and between our different communities. In my view there are three main reasons why things have changed in recent years.

6. First there is clear evidence that extremist groups have become well organised and quick to take advantage of any cracks, gaps or spaces between communities. Their arguments can sound plausible and convincing if not firmly challenged with real understanding and solid inter-community linkages. Local government has a vital role to play in dispelling the myths propagated by extremists.

7. A recent poll of British Muslims found that six per cent believed the 7/7 bombers were acting according to the principles of Islam - that means 94 per cent believed they were not. Two-thirds think that no more than a tiny minority of their community sympathised with the 7/7 bombers.

8. Second, we now live in a world of high speed communications and access to constant media coverage. Events abroad impact on communities here. The effect of the Danish cartoons, incidents in Iraq and the conflict in the Middle East illustrate this point clearly. For example, if a fight breaks out in a bar in Mirpur - where many of my constituents in Oldham have their origins - between two families then a fight may break out between related families in the UK.

9. Third, community tensions can be very complex. For example, we have seen frictions between different race on race groups. And we must not ignore that there is discrimination against white people.

10. One worrying factor is that more migrant workers are coming here without any knowledge of the English language. This is a serious barrier to economic prosperity and integration. The Audit Commission is currently carrying out research to look at the issues around migrant workers further and to highlight examples of local success in responding to their needs.

11. Among many of our longer-established communities this is not true. These have been aspirant communities, learning the language fast and taking full advantage of opportunities in education and elsewhere - sometimes better than the population as a whole. However there are now some marked intergenerational differences as a result.

12. Overall, we have made a good deal of progress on community cohesion and reducing the complex tensions between many different groups. Perhaps it is worth just going back to 2001 and the summer before 9/11. We saw serious disturbances in Bradford, Oldham and Burnley which shook the confidence of communities across the country and acted as a visible signal of the tensions existing within Britain's diverse population.

13. The Cantle review immediately after the disturbances outlined, for the first time, the complexity of the contributing factors and made a number of recommendations on how future disturbances could be avoided. The review team looked at how Government, local government and the communities themselves could build what we began to call 'community cohesion', primarily by encouraging relationships and interactions between different racial and cultural groups. The key starting point was an acceptance that things weren't right.

14. For example, the £6 million Community Cohesion Pathfinder programme led to a number of pieces of widely-used guidance for local leaders and practitioners, thanks to the Government working closely with the LGA, IDeA and other key players.

15. We also have in place a cross-Government strategy for Race and Community Cohesion - Improving Opportunity, Strengthening Society - that has ensured there is a proper dialogue between Departments on how their policies impact on cohesion. This has made Whitehall think about race, faith and cohesion in a way that we perhaps had not done before.

16. Cohesion is now a mandatory indicator in the current LAA framework and will be included for the first time in the 2006 BVPI General Household Survey. Progress is being made.

17. But however much progress we have made, there is far more to be done. The recent Citizenship Survey and the five-year follow-up reports on Oldham and Burnley have shown we must continue to push against perceived barriers to communities becoming more integrated.

18. Ted Cantle suggested there is compound segregation at work in our communities. 'Parallel lives' are being created, with communities having different experiences of school, work and leisure. We cannot allow these parallel communities to develop. We need to build those common threads instead and work towards integration. This is not segregation, nor assimilation, but more a network of linkages that connect us to family, group and faith traditions as well as to communities of place and interest.

19. Last week Ruth Kelly launched the new Commission on Integration and Cohesion with Darra Singh, the Chief Executive of Ealing Council, as its Chair. This will look at how local areas can recognise, and make the most of, the benefits of diversity. And it will also look at how best to respond to the tensions between different groups. The Commission will develop practical approaches to empower communities so they can prevent and tackle their own problems, including problems caused by segregation and people trying to spread extremist ideologies. We have asked the Commission to report back with recommendations next June and I expect local government to have a key role in those.

20. I am starting from the question: What makes a healthy body politic? What does it look like? Incidentally, politics must not become a dirty word, otherwise people will become more disengaged with democracy.

21. I will finish with a few thoughts of my own on what I see as the essential elements - or legs - for the healthy body politic and thriving, cohesive communities.

22. At the moment my thinking is around eight legs - a sort of 'Woolas community cohesion arachnid'. So this is my list, and it goes without saying that each leg must be robust and effective:

inter-faith forums
private sector in the form of Chambers of Commerce
race equality councils
local authorities with a community cohesion focus and intelligent policing operation
a strong, active voluntary and community sector with good organisation behind it, recognising both the representational and service provider role. It needs to ensure that the sustainable community strategy does tackle unemployment and disadvantage.
Youth participation through councils or forums, including student unions and societies with the 16-18 year olds involved too
healthy political parties engaging communities
strong and inspiring political leadership.

This needs a great deal more work on it - and probably a few more legs too - so I would welcome your thoughts.

Thank you.

Speech by Phil Woolas MP on 6 July 2006.