Carolyn Downs, Brent Chief Executive, and Cllr Miller, Lead Member for Stronger Communities, sign the Covenant
We are delighted to let you know that over 5 million people now live in areas covered by the Faith Covenant, developed by the APPG. Brent this week became the 10th local area to adopt the Covenant, a set of principles that guide joint working, through which faith groups and councils (and other local bodies) all make a commitment to working together to meet the needs of their communities.
Covenant signatories in Essex
Brent follows Essex, which signed a Covenant at county-wide level in October, and Blackpool, which in September adopted a Faith Partnership Agreement along Covenant lines. The other areas to have adopted the Covenant so far are Birmingham, Leeds, Solihull, Northamptonshire, Calderdale, Barnet and Southampton.
We would encourage Members of Parliament to consider whether their local area could adopt the Covenant as a way of supporting faith-based organisations to work with their local authority constructively and effectively, as part of civil society. The ultimate aim is to unlock the potential of faith groups – sometimes overlooked at present – to contribute towards solutions to the challenges our society faces terms of public health, social care, education, employment support and community inclusion.
