The Big Society launched by the Prime Minister, July 2010, aims to give more power and responsibility to communities. The Big Society agenda aims to support local areas so they can take an active part in tackling local problems and contributing to decisions that affect them. A cohesive society is integral to the success of the Big Society.

According to the Citizenship Survey, published 22 July 2010, a large majority of people thought their community was cohesive, agreeing that their local area was a place where people from different backgrounds got on well together.

According to Communities Minister Andrew Stunell, "its good news that the great majority of people get on well with each other and are satisfied with their local area. But levels of volunteering and civic participation could be higher. We want to see communities all over the country in which high numbers of people are actively engaged in making their neighbourhood better and are giving something back.”

A cohesive society will not only enable the Big Society but is crucial for strengthening a communities resilience against extremism. The changing nature of the terrorist threat poses a big challenge to communities. The overwhelming majority of people in Britain feel positive about living side by side with people from different backgrounds. However, there are still some new and complex challenges that require national and local action to ensure that society is inclusive and any extremism and potential community tensions are tackled. Consequently, the government will review the Prevent programme, the government’s strategy for preventing violent extremism . The new Prevent strategy will separate work to prevent terrorism from work to promote integration, which will be led by the Department for Communities and Local Government

KEY SPEAKERS AND TOPICAL PLENARY AREAS (include):

Chairs Welcome Address
Ewan King, Director, Office for Public Management (CONFIRMED)
 
Big Society: A Driver for Community Cohesion
- John Tatam, Executive Director, Institute of Community Cohesion (iCOCO) (CONFIRMED)

Community Cohesion: The Role of Education and School
- Graham Robb, Board Member, Youth Justice Board for England and Wales (CONFIRMED)

Case Study: Community Cohesion in Leicester 2011
- Trish Roberts-Thomson, Policy Lead for Community Cohesion, Leicester City Council (CONFIRMED)

Tackling Violent Extremism Through Community Cohesion
- Jane Everton, Head of the Preventing Violent Extremism Division, Department for Communities and Local Government (invited)
 
Establishing Strong Relationships Between the Police, Local Authorities and Communities
- Mark Collins, PREVENT Delivery Unit, ACPO (invited)

Community Cohesion: Building Stronger, Safer, Resilient Communities
- Andrew Stunell, Parliamentary Under Secretary of State for Community Cohesion, Department for Communities and Local Government (invited)

View the full agenda.

Location Tags: London

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