News

Recently released research findings into race equality issues do not bode well for the adoption of community cohesion policies by local authorities. Sally Gillen reports.

A double dose of depressing information was released last week that has thrown serious doubt over councils' abilities to address race equality issues and achieve community cohesion.

Based on performance indicator information collected over the last couple of years, a report by the Audit Commission published this week finds that 40 per cent of councils have failed to reach the first of five levels of the Commission for Racial Equality's good practice standard.

Meanwhile, a survey of one third of England's 150 councils carried out by Community Care three days before the deadline for councils to produce a race equality scheme - a requirement under the Race Relations Amendment Act 2000 - reveals that just five councils have completed their schemes. Many say they have prepared drafts that need to be approved by committee, but others say their schemes will not be completed for several weeks. Scottish councils have until November to complete their schemes.

The Audit Commission report led its controller Sir Andrew Foster to declare that, after 30 years of equal opportunities, councils are still not "getting the basics right".

CRE chairperson Gurbux Singh describes the report's findings as deeply worrying. "It paints a very depressing picture of race equality in local government," he says.

Neither the findings of the report nor Community Care's straw poll bode well for the adoption of community cohesive policies by councils, the draft guidance for which was published at the end of May by the CRE, the Local Government Association, the Department for Transport, Local Government and the Regions, and the Home Office.

The guidance, developed in response to the disturbances of last summer in Bradford, Burnley and Oldham, identifies local authorities as having a key role in driving the community cohesion agenda (News, page 16, 30 May). It lists a common vision and sense of belonging, and strong and positive relationships between people from different backgrounds, among the elements that make a cohesive community.

And, according to the guidance, the local strategic partnerships that should bring together people from different sectors are the "preferred means" of achieving that cohesion. However, this may prove more difficult for the local authorities outside the 88 most deprived areas, as they are not even required to have an LSP.

John Routledge, chief executive of umbrella regeneration group Urban Forum, is also concerned about the assumption that LSPs are the ideal partnerships to take forward community cohesion. The voluntary and community sectors have long complained that they are not fairly represented on LSP boards and that their influence is limited.

Abdul Basit Shah, a voluntary sector member of Oldham's LSP, also has doubts. He says he is happy that the voluntary and community sector is well represented on the LSP, but adds that it is hard to tell how much sway he and the other voluntary sector members will have in practice."

Basit Shah believes the test of the LSP will be once the work is started. "Only then will we know whether this is a true partnership or just a one-night stand," he adds.

Routledge describes the guidance as "good as a discussion document" but identifies several issues that have been missed. Regeneration, for example, is highlighted as one of the areas that could lead to tensions between communities as they compete for resources, yet the guidance fails to promote mainstreaming as a solution. However, it does note that the nature of regeneration funding as one-off grants has prevented local authorities from developing long-term strategies to address poverty and deprivation within their areas.

The lack of evidence that what is being learned from area-based regeneration projects is being incorporated into mainstream policies was highlighted by research by the University of West England published last month (News, page 12, 16 May).

Routledge agrees that the existence of area-based initiatives can become a barrier to community cohesion because of perceptions that money is being poured into one area while neighbouring areas get nothing.

By mainstreaming lessons from regeneration, more areas could benefit. But there are no incentives at the moment for local authorities to do this. "The only way to make councils mainstream is by incentivising it," Routledge says, proposing extra money or greater flexibility for councils who are able to show they have incorporated what they have learned.

Housing also features heavily in the draft guidance. Research carried out in the aftermath of last year's riots shows that the towns were heavily segregated, to the point of polarisation. Poor white families living on housing estates lived next to Asian families housed in the poorest quality private sector accommodation.

Chairperson of the Federation of Black Housing Organisations Anil Singh is pleased that, for the first time, guidance has acknowledged the complexity of the causes of segregation. But he is not optimistic about the likelihood of the situation changing. "Any attempt to reverse segregation is likely to fail," he warns.

Historically, council housing allocation policies have not favoured people from ethnic minority communities, and instead they have opted to pool their resources and buy their own homes.

But, says Singh, the high level of home ownership among Asians has been achieved at "an enormous social cost". The houses are often inadequate and in need of repairs. Ethnic minority communities are more likely to suffer from overcrowding than white people, yet fewer points are awarded for this than other issues when considering housing applications.

But even with a change in council housing policy and more choice for ethnic minority tenants, as advised in the community cohesion guidance, there are no guarantees that this will lead to a greater cultural mix on social housing estates.

"Irrespective of policy, people will exclude themselves where they are being racially harassed," Singh says, adding that one way to tackle the "entrenched, hostile views" is though tenant participation.

As the director of Bradford-based Manningham housing association, Singh is particularly aware of the problem of getting people from ethnic minorities into white areas.

But attempts are being made by the council to create better access to social housing. It has transferred some of its stock to Manningham on a freehold basis, which the association will let to ethnic minorities.

However, even this sort of arrangement is not without problems. Rents, repairs and refurbishments must be carried out by Bradford Council at the same time as Manningham. Otherwise tensions could arise between black and white people living side by side, Singh says.

While the guidance focuses on local housing policy, national government policy makers should also take heed. Singh warns that the establishment of four accommodation centres for asylum seekers waiting for their applications to be processed will see an "institutionalised segregation of refugees". Asylum seeking children, who will live and be educated in the centres, will have little chance of integrating into the wider community.

This is a pertinent point, given that the alienation of young people was identified as a key factor in the riots of last year. Creating a shared sense of belonging is listed among the things that those working within youth provision need to aim for.

But, as Calderdale Race Equality Project senior officer Alyas Karmani points out, that is easier said than done. He says organisations like his have a limited ability to make changes because youth services tend to be owned by a statutory agency and there are not enough youth groups within the voluntary sector because of difficulties attracting funding.

Karmani says his attempts to meet the guidance's recommendation that "youth provision should encourage cross-cultural activities" were blocked by the council's refusal to provide the £12,000 for a cross-cultural entertainment showcase for the summer.

As a discretionary area, youth services are often the first to go when councils need to make cutbacks. If Karmani's example is anything to go by, the importance of youth services has yet to be registered by those holding the purse strings.

Karmani has doubts about the conclusions reached by the panels set up in the wake of last summer's riots. For one thing, forced integration is unworkable, and what is now being addressed is 30 years of neglect. "It won't be overcome by a few years of pontificating," he adds.

- Equality and Diversity: Learning from Audit, Inspection and Research from www.audit-commission.gov.uk  

Community cohesion draft guidance from www.homeoffice.gov.uk/cpd/ccu/commcohe.pdf