Plans unveiled to promote better integration

GETTING marginalised women into work, helping new migrants integrate into their communities and improving opportunities for those wishing to learn English are among the plans unveiled in the Integrated Communities Action Plan, published today (9).

Communities Secretary, James Brokenshire MP, outlined the government’s vision of the Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper that will lead to the creation of integrated communities where people, irrespective of their background, can live and work based on shared rights, responsibilities and opportunities.

The plan is backed by £50 million of funding from Ministry of Housing Communities and Local Government and additional funding from other government departments.

Brokenshire said: “Our new action plan charts a course for how we will engage and work with communities to bring people together in recognition that there is more that binds than divides us.  And as we embark on a new future outside the European Union, we need to ensure that everyone, whatever their background, has access to the same opportunities.”

The Government will take 70 actions, which includes collaborating with civil society to support refugees integrate in the UK, and reaffirm support for faith communities and empower faith leaders with the confidence to meet the needs of their congregations.

The Government has also been working in partnership with five Integration Areas (Blackburn with Darwen; Bradford; Peterborough; Walsall and Waltham Forest) to develop local integration plans, as integration challenges are not uniform throughout the country.