APPG on Faith and Society

News from the All-Party Parliamentary Group

Relationships and Sex Education Legislation Workshop

Relationships and Sex Education Legislation Workshop

On 13th May 2019, the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Faith and Society will be hosting a roundtable discussion on relationships and sex education legislation. The event will be chaired by the Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, chair of the APPG on Faith and Society, and will feature: Chris Jones, Director, Corporate Strategy, Ofsted Jade Gilks, Team Leader, Relationships Education, Relationships and Sex Education, and Health Education Policy, Department of Education Alice Chicken, Assistant Director, Relationships/RSE/PSHE, Department of Education Derek Holloway, School Character and SIAMS Development...

Faith Covenant now covers over 5 million

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. Brent follows Essex, which signed a Covenant at county-wide level in October, and Blackpool, which in September...

Blackpool Council signs Covenant-inspired Faith Partnership Agreement

On Tuesday 19th September, Blackpool Council and local faith leaders met at the Blackpool Solaris Centre to sign up to new framework for working in partnership, the design of which was inspired by the APPG on Faith and Society’s own Faith Covenant. The drive to promote better partnerships between the Council and faith groups was spearheaded by Together Lancashire, who had previously co-ordinated initiatives to map the extensive work being done by faith groups in service to communities in the area. Andy Divall, Strategic Equality...

Faith in Local Government: Local authorities and faith groups join forces

FaithAction and the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Faith and Society hosted an event in Westminster on Monday 14th November, at the start of Inter Faith Week. The Faith in Local Government reception celebrated the Faith Covenant developed by the APPG, for which FaithAction is the secretariat. Our keynote speaker was the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, who was vocal in his support of faith, describing it as “undoubtedly a force for good in our country”. He...

Faith in Local Government: Seeking solutions for community, local empowerment and social isolation

The APPG on Faith and Society is delighted to announce that the Rt Hon Sajid Javid MP, Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government, will be joining us for a parliamentary reception to celebrate the Faith Covenant. This invitation-only event is to be held in Westminster on Monday 14th November, and will be attended by members of the APPG alongside Council and faith leaders from areas that have adopted the Faith Covenant. This reception will be an opportunity to share the good practice that...

APPG Meeting: Public Faith and Finance, 14th July

A policy roundtable discussion was held on Thursday 14 July in Portcullis House, focusing on faith-based organisations’ responses to issues of finance, poverty and austerity. The event marked the publication of the report Public Faith and Finance: Faith responses to the financial crisis, which was presented by authors Dr Therese O’Toole and Dr Katya Braginskaia of the University of Bristol. Omar Shaikh of the Islamic Finance Council UK spoke about the Council’s work, and its joint project with the Church of Scotland to develop ethical...

Statement of Hope

Statement of Hope

The All-Party Parliamentary Group on Faith and Society was formed to support and promote the work of faith organisations in the United Kingdom. Faith groups are often the very glue of society; they provide a place for people to come together, they seek out solutions, and they provide hope. We want to affirm these values of community and hope for the United Kingdom today.

US ruling on religious liberty protections for beneficiaries of public services

US agencies have published a ruling that will provide new religious liberty protections for beneficiaries of federally funded social service programmes, while also adding new protections for the ability of religious providers to compete for government funds on the same basis as any other private organisation. This ruling provides a very interesting comparison with the Faith Covenant here in the UK. Read more We are grateful to Dr Harriet Crabtree, Executive Director of the Inter Faith Network for the UK, for bringing this to our...

APPG on Faith and Society Calls for Support for Faith Covenant

APPG on Faith and Society Calls for Support for Faith Covenant

The All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Faith and Society, chaired by the Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, has pressed today for national support and uptake of the Faith Covenant. The Covenant, developed after hearing evidence from faith groups across the country, was the idea of David Lammy MP, who was keen to develop a set of principles that faith groups and local authorities could adopt to promote joint working. Since its development in 2013, six local authorities have recognised the significance and potential of the...

Commons Chamber Debate on the Contribution of Faith Organisations to the Voluntary Sector in Communities

On Thursday 5th May, there was a general debate in the House of Commons Chamber amongst MPs on ‘the contribution of faith organisations to the voluntary sector in communities’. The debate was scheduled by the Backbench Business Committee after the issue was raised in a meeting by Fiona Bruce MP and Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP, both members of the APPG on Faith and Society. A video of Fiona Bruce MP and Rt Hon Stephen Timms MP’s representation to the Committee is available below, courtesy...