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Work on a Whitehall tool to track community tensions has slowed since the change of Prime Minister, The MJ understands.However, the new permanent secretary at the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG) Tom Riordan, who took up the post last month, is believed to have highlighted cohesion as a major challenge for the sector in an introductory webinar for chief executives on his ambitions for local government.MHCLG had been developing a measurement framework to track and monitor emerging tensions, but sources said some of this work had slowed since Andy Burnham took over from Keir Starmer as Prime Minister.One possibility still believed to be under discussion in Whitehall is for cohesion responsibilities to be absorbed into the Home Office – reversing a 2006 decision – which some experts fear could damage trust with communities.The discussions come as political control of town halls has become increasingly volatile amid the rise of Reform UK and as councils find themselves caught between the Home Office and residents over asylum accommodation.A report earlier this year by Belong, a network for building cohesive communities that has been working with MHCLG and the Local Government Association (LGA), said councils should lead on cohesion and warned a ‘securitised approach to social cohesion and extremism has often had a chilling effect, making some communities feel unfairly targeted or alienated'. It is believed sector bodies have heard little since Whitehall officials vowed to work with local government on the development and implementation of their cross-government action plan to improve social cohesion in April.MHCLG declined to say whether it had since agreed any indicators, piloted a cohesion risk assessment tool or had a timetable for implementation.Working with Belong, a number of councils have been piloting a cohesion incident reporting system, which would act as an early warning system, and could feed into Whitehall's tensions monitoring.Belong's director of policy, research and communications Madeleine Jennings backed the idea of a Whitehall cohesion measurement framework.She said: ‘I don't see it as a league table of local authorities. There are cohesion challenges all over the country. Even the more affluent areas will have pockets of challenges.‘It is useful for councils themselves to have data on what their cohesion challenges are. I think measuring at a local level is important, but I don't think comparing is helpful.‘I think it [the Government's cohesion measurement framework] is trying to identify where help is needed. I think this is supportive.'However, not all in the sector are keen. One well-known councillor said: ‘If this [measurement framework] is kicked into touch local government will be happy.'An LGA spokesperson said: ‘Government can help councils to better provide for their communities and improve cohesion work by empowering them to make meaningful decisions on local housing, the local economy and local place shaping, alongside providing the necessary funding to deliver these opportunities and quality public services.'

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POLICY AND POLITICS

EXCLUSIVE: Work on Whitehall tensions tool slows under Burnham

By Dan Peters | 07 October 2026

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