The ‘Faith in Local Government Conference’ was funded by the Deputy Prime Minister’s Department to draw together faith groups in London with a view to increasing their ability to work in partnership with London ‘s local authorities. The conference addressed the concerns highlighted within a Faithworks survey, which revealed that 29% of London churches felt they had been excluded from partnership with local authorities because of their faith. 

The events of September 11th have brought an increasing recognition to faith groups that they need to demonstrate an ability to work together to overcome the barriers which hinder their working with local councils. The ‘Faith in Local Government Conference’ was initiated by the Muslim Council of Great Britain in partnership with the London Civic Forum (faith sector) and Faithworks (representing Christian groups within the capital). Other groups involved were the Hindu Council, Sikh Nari Manch, London Jamyang Buddhist Centre and Interlink Foundation (the primary Orthodox Jewish community care charity.)

Chief Executives from London boroughs sent a representative to the conference to sign a pledge card showing the commitment of each Borough to:

• Build good relationships with faith communities
• Recognise religious diversity
• Ensure that faith communities are able to play a full and diverse role in the local community
• Ensure information about the council’s work is accessible and understandable by all communities
• Ensure that faith communities have the same opportunities as other non-religious groups to access local authority initiatives including funding, capacity building initiatives, local partnerships and planning forums
• Ensure the Local Government Association guide ‘Faith and Community – A good practice guide’ (published 4/4/2) is widely circulated to all levels of local authority staff and the recommendations implemented
• Practise a greater level of awareness, understanding and sensitivity towards dates of faith community festivals and holy days.

Speakers including Steve Chalke highlighted examples of good practice in faith-based community work from each of the main faith traditions in London and Rev David Rayner, Secretary of the Government’s religious liaison group, the Inner Cities’ Religious Council brought a message of support from the Government which described the initiative as “an unprecedented watershed” in relations between faith groups and local governme

“Faithworks welcomes this inter-faith initiative which facilitates better working relationships between faith groups and local authorities in London.  My personal hope would be that faith communities in other parts of the country will be inspired to come together and engage with their local authorities in the same way.”      
                                    Faithworks Founder Steve Chalke