Report authors
Josh Westerling
Policy Manager
Nick Plumb
Director of Policy and Insight
Ailbhe McNabola
Deputy CEO
Fixing the foundations: A communities strategy for Britain
This paper explores community cohesion, empowerment and growth in response to the riots across the UK this summer. The recommendations put communities in the lead, reflecting the importance of places to meet and the need for support from all levels of government.
Our learnings from this report
Torn social fabric lay behind disorder this summer. The government’s communities policy must move from responding to crisis to consistency. We know community cohesion is back on the agenda for government. But cohesion is only part of the story. People need to feel empowered and feel that they are involved in the Government’s national missions for growth.
This paper lays out three steps government needs to take for a communities strategy to have a lasting effect:
- Invest in community cohesion: new and improved funding to support community ownership of places and spaces where people can connect and meet.
- Empower communities: give more control to local people over certain state spending decisions in their area.
- Support community-led growth: create a new institution or arms-length body to support community-led institutions contribution to local growth.