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Britain's religious communities have been invited to help central and local government tackle some of society's toughest challenges.

Improving parenting and climate change are among the issues ministers hope local groups will embrace.
Communities secretary, John Denham, this week launched ‘Inter faith week', a partnership between CLG and the Inter Faith Network, designed to improve community cohesion and understanding of different faiths across neighbourhoods.

Mr Denham said rather than use faith as a prop to help the Government solve immediate problems – such as tackling right-wing extremism – he wanted to see a ‘deeper and broader' relationship between government and faith communities.

The Government has already engaged with charities but Mr Denham wants to go further.

‘For millions of people, the values instilled by their faith are central to shaping their behaviour.

‘We should continually encourage and enhance the contribution faith makes on the central issues of our time.'

To support his plan, Mr Denham has made £2m available to encourage more inter-faith activity across Britain.