Major new report says social integration in the UK has not kept up with immigration, finds worrying segregation and social exclusion
The Government has today published Dame Louise Casey's major review into social integration in Great Britain.
Image credit: UK GovernmentCasey's report runs to 199 pages and can be read here.
According to the Guardian, the report found that successive governments have failed for more than a decade to ensure that social integration in the UK has kept up with immigration and have allowed some local communities to become increasingly divided.
BBC News noted that Casey said segregation and social exclusion has reached "worrying levels" and is fuelling inequality in some areas of Britain, while the Telegraph highlighted that the report recommended migrants should swear an oath of allegiance when they arrive in UK.
Casey states in the summary to the report: "At the start of this review, I had thought that I knew what some of the problems might be and what I might report on. Discrimination and disadvantage feeding a sense of grievance and unfairness, isolating communities from modern British society and all it has to offer.
"I did find this. Black boys still not getting jobs, white working class kids on free school meals still doing badly in our education system, Muslim girls getting good grades at school but no decent employment opportunities; these remain absolutely vital problems to tackle and get right to improve our society.
"But I also found other, equally worrying things including high levels of social and economic isolation in some places and cultural and religious practices in communities that are not only holding some of our citizens back but run contrary to British values and sometimes our laws. Time and time again I found it was women and children who were the targets of these regressive practices. And too often, leaders and institutions were not doing enough to stand up against them and protect those who were vulnerable.
"I know that for some, the content of this review will be hard to read, and I have wrestled with what to put in and what to leave out, particularly because I know that putting some communities under the spotlight – particularly communities in which there are high concentrations of Muslims of Pakistani and Bangladeshi heritage – will add to the pressure that they already feel. However, I am convinced that it is only by fully acknowledging what is happening that we can set about resolving these problems and eventually relieve this pressure."
The report's recommendations are summed up as follows:
"Build local communities' resilience in the towns and cities where the greatest challenges exist, by:
(1) Providing additional funding for area-based plans and projects that will address the key priorities identified in this review, including the promotion of English language skills, empowering marginalised women, promoting more social mixing, particularly among young people, and tackling barriers to employment for the most socially isolated groups.
(2) Developing a set of local indicators of integration and requiring regular collection of the data supporting these indicators.
(3) Identifying and promoting successful approaches to integration.
Improve the integration of communities in Britain and establish a set of values around which people from all different backgrounds can unite, by:
(4) Attaching more weight to British values, laws and history in our schools.
(5) Considering what additional support or advice should be provided to immigrants to help them get off to the best start in understanding their rights and obligations and our expectations for integration.
(6) Reviewing the route to British citizenship and considering the introduction of an integration oath on arrival for immigrants intending to settle in Britain.
Reduce economic exclusion, inequality and segregation in our most isolated and deprived communities and schools, by:
(7) Working with schools providers and local communities to promote more integrated schools and opportunities for pupils to mix with others from different backgrounds.
(8) Developing approaches to help overcome cultural barriers to employment.
(9) Improving English language provision through funding for community-based classes and appropriate prioritisation of adult skills budgets.
(10) Improving our understanding of how housing and regeneration policies could improve integration or reduce segregation.
(11) Introducing stronger safeguards for children who are not in mainstream education, including those being home schooled.
Increase standards of leadership and integrity in public office, by:
(12) Ensuring that British values such as respect for the rule of law, equality and tolerance are enshrined in the principles of public life and developing a new oath for holders of public office."
The Guardian noted that Baroness Warsi criticised the report, saying it had "some good bits, a few bad bits and lots of confused bits".
Warsi argued that many of the statistics used in the report were out of date, and she accused Casey of confusing "race, ethnicity, origin and faith".