Paul Marinko 27 August 2025

Taskforce fails to recognise councils' key role in cohesion

Taskforce fails to recognise councils key role in cohesion image
Social Cohesion (c) amer ghazzal Alamy Stock Photo.

Ministers have been accused of failing to recognise the ‘vital role’ of councils in cohesion after deciding to limit a new taskforce’s membership to mandarins.

The Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) told The MJ its social cohesion taskforce was made up of an ‘internal civil service team’ charged with considering ‘how to tackle divisions in our communities and build common ground’.

With Epping Forest DC last week winning its court battle with the Home Office over the temporary closure of an asylum hotel, the district’s leader Chris Whitbread said: ‘By excluding local government, the [Government] is fundamentally failing to recognise the vital community leadership role that councils undertake on the ground.’

Visit The MJ (£) to continue reading.

LocalGov editor, William Eichler, sat down with Kelly Fowler, the CEO of Belong, to discuss immigration, social cohesion, and whether the UK really had become an ‘island of strangers’.

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