Making Sense of Community

Since coming to power in 1997, one defining characteristic of Labour's policy agenda has been its stated commitment to the value of community. This focus is long overdue. Community - the character and quality of the local social relationships where we live - clearly has a significant impact on our quality of life. This report argues that although this Government's record on issues of community is a significant advance, there is still some way to go, both in joining up thinking on key issues, and in addressing quite fundamental problems.

Drawing on research carried out in three Coventry neighbourhoods, this report offers both a framework to help policy makers think about the effects of their decisions on community, and many specific recommendations across a variety of issues such as planning and development, crime and policing and frontline service delivery. "It's not always comfortable reading for government politicians, but it offers thought-provoking recommendations, orientated to practical action, for rebuilding a sense of community in Britain today."

Rt Hon David Blunkett MP, Home Secretary