It has been a busy week for announcements from the Department of Communities and Local Government on faith and inter faith policy.
Firstly, the Government has published “Face to Face and Side by Side – a framework for partnership in our multi-faith society”, a response to the national inter faith consultation held earlier this year. The key recommendations include:
- Providing resources to support and develop regional faiths forums
- Establishing a “Faiths in Action” grant fund - a £4m grants programme open to faith, inter faith, voluntary and community organisations and groups in England from 1 August 2008. Round one will issue grants of up to £12,000 to be spent over two years. Faiths in Action aims to bring communities together, promoting positive relationships between people of different religions and beliefs – further information will be published at www.cdf.org.uk shortly.
- Encouraging faith groups to hold open days and share space in their buildings.
A summary of the report can be downloaded here Face to Face and Side by Side: A framework for partnership in our multi faith society - Summary
The press release can be found here http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/communities/899062
The full report can be downloaded here Face to Face and Side by Side: A framework for partnership in our multi faith society
Secondly, the Department of Communities and Local Government has published “Preventing Violent Extremism: Next Steps For Communities”. Hazel Blears announced a package of measures responding to calls from Muslim communities to support the promotion of citizenship and shared values and to stop Islamic theology being abused by those who seek to divide communities. Key recommendations include:
- Resourcing citizenship training in Mosque Schools
- Establishing a new independent board of academic and theological experts
- Establishing a Local Delivery Advisory Group
The press release can be found here http://www.communities.gov.uk/news/communities/898008
The full report can be downloaded here www.communities.gov.uk/publications/communities/preventingviolentextremismnext
Over the next weeks Sheffield Faiths Forum will be looking how it can support and build upon the proposals within these reports to meet the needs of local faith groups.