Making Sense of Community

Article

Drawing on research carried out in three Coventry neighbourhoods, this report shows how policy makers decisions can affect community, and gives recommendations on planning and development, crime and policing and frontline service delivery.

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

Related items

  1. Must try harder: do the Holyrood 2026 manifestos meet our tests?

  2. An energy smart meter sits on a countertop. It reads electricity: £61.71, gas: £148

    Flex factor: How government can keep network costs on bills down

    Government must strike a better balance between bringing down energy bills now and building a system fit for the future.

  3. Acceleration is not a strategy: A framework for directing AI towards public value before it's too late

    The politics of artificial intelligence is set to drastically change in 2026 as recent technical breakthroughs get implemented across the economy.