Cohesion
EXCLUSIVE: Concern over councils' ability to cope with polls
Council chiefs have raised concerns with Government about the sector’s capacity to run EU elections so close on the heels of local polls.
EXCLUSIVE: Whitehall warned as Brexit tensions grow
‘Early signs’ of escalating community tensions and hate crime related to Brexit have been reported to the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), The MJ has learnt.
EXCLUSIVE: Chiefs' no-deal Brexit capacity warning
Council capacity will be stretched under a no-deal Brexit scenario, local authority chief executives have warned the Government.
Brokenshire announces new integration measures
Communities secretary James Brokenshire has announced new measures to promote integration as the UK moves closer to life outside of the EU.
Controversial Prevent strategy to be reviewed
An independent review of the Prevent anti-radicalisation programme will take place, ministers have announced.
Leaders unite to tackle extremism
Council leaders from across the UK are meeting this week to call for cooperation over tackling extremism and radicalisation within communities.
Tackling the threat of terror together
Mark Conrad recently attended Prevent Strategy Channel Panel training and witnessed the wide range of dilemmas facing frontline staff tackling radicalisation and terror threats.
Frontline staff 'still wary of Prevent'
Frontline local authority staff are still wary of Prevent strategy training amid fears they could be viewed as extensions of the security services, practitioners have told The MJ.
Councils urged to clamp down on radical speakers
Councils will be expected to ensure venues and resources they own do not provide a platform for extremists, a new Prevent strategy toolkit issued by the Home Office has urged.
Immigration benefits lost due to cuts
Government cuts to councils have meant the economic benefits of migration are being lost, new research has found.
Tolerate each other’s freedoms
In the wake of Boris Johnson’s burqa comments, Claire Fox calls for less knee-jerk reaction.
Minister praises councils' Prevent role
Minister Ben Wallace has said he expects ‘natural variations’ in the delivery of local counter-terror strategies as Whitehall hands greater responsibility for Prevent to councils.
Brexit has 'fuelled extremism'
Councils have intensified opposition to far right groups under the Home Office’s Prevent strategy amid indications the Brexit debate has fuelled cases of extremism, an expert has revealed.
Casey: 'Timid' integration green paper delaying action
Action to tackle social segregation and the rise of extremism is not happening quickly enough, a former integration tsar has told MPs.
Countering terror locally
With the announcement of the Government’s CONTEST counter-terrorism strategy following on from other major reviews into policing and safety, Mark Conrad looks at what it all means for local authorities.
Surrey has 'improved' since Parsons Green bomb
Surrey CC has insisted it has made improvements since the Parsons Green bomber partially exploded a device on a tube train, injuring 51 people.
EXCLUSIVE: Councils take key Prevent strategy role
Councils have been handed administrative control of the controversial Prevent counter-terror strategy, as ministers seek to make it more amenable to communities, The MJ has learned.
Are we entering a new era of trust and respect?
Heather Jameson would like to see a communities secretary who makes local government a funding priority through the Spending Review in return for delivery on key government policies.
Preventing terror: the perspective of two councils
The Prevent strategy against radicalisation has recently come under fire for being a top-down initiative. Dan Peters talks to two local authorities with diverse populations that both back Prevent as a means of targeting impressionable young people at an early stage.
Kerslake review praises council response to Manchester bomb attack
Local government’s response to the Manchester Arena bombing was ‘by any measure exceptional’, but key mistakes must be avoided in future, an official review has found.