Position papers

Create an environment in which there are the necessary elements to allow an area and its people to grow as a thriving community. This is one where people are involved and committed to it and accepted by it. A thriving community is also one that offers security and structure.

That education, especially in the development and planning of new community based schools, reflects the diversity and religions in our society and helps promote the values and morals that underpin a successful society.

That the development of agriculture encourages local production, niche marketing and supply. Also that it reflects, balances and protects the economy, environment and bio-diversity of the region combined with a need for sustainable living.

That access to healthcare is available to all equally and that health issues contributing to the breakdown of our society are addressed with some urgency” in particular the links of poor health with housing and poverty.

That all must have equal access (regardless of background and socio-economic status) to fair policing and justice and that policy on justice be kept under review to ensure it contributes to social cohesion and upholds those values common to the faiths of the region.

Wealth Creation must go hand in hand with the development of policies that alleviate social disadvantage and must ensure a wide variety of employment opportunities such that diverse talents and skills are valued. In addition core professions in areas like education and health must be properly valued.

Additional material relating to the statements.

Government policy is very much directed to improving the social capital of a community and stresses the importance of community leadership and “home grown” solutions. Indeed, the National Strategy for Neighbourhood Renewal emphasised the importance of involvement by all sectors, including faith communities.

The faiths in our region share concerns relating to employment, retail policies, transport, housing. worship facilities, cultural opportunities, education and health. As some of the major stakeholders in their community, faith groups are ideally placed to contribute to the planning process at all levels and for all types of developments or services.

Their day to day contact with a range of people in a whole variety of situations means they have unparalleled “grass roots” experience to contribute to planning and to ensure its appropriateness. They also often have a significant knowledge of the development of suitable health care and other local needs. Indeed they are already involved in several Local Strategic Partnerships. On a national basis development projects in places including Hulme, Manchester and London all are good examples of faith input into planning in a local area.

The faiths of our region help their communities to be self-sufficient, not just financially but in the role they can have in the provision of cultural, linguistic and religious continuity. Exciting cultural activities and services all contribute to enhancing an area”s social capital. On many occasions the faiths of a local area may meet together or assist each other to promote worship. Friends” Meeting Houses for example are often rented by small ethnic minority groups wanting a place to worship — the Buddhist group in Cambridge used to meet at the Jesus Lane Meeting House.

At the same time the faiths of our region are contributing to government priority areas in the East. These include Thames Gateway, Clacton, Great Yarmouth, Harwich, Lowestoft, Luton, Dunstable, Ipswich, Kings Lynn, Norwich, Peterborough, North of Lee Valley and the remote rural areas of the North East of the region. The faiths are in an ideal position to more accurately identify areas of deprivation at a ward and sub-ward level. Due to their day to day experience they can also engage in the debate about the sort of indices that should be used to identify local disadvantage and then the appropriate targeted areas for regeneration.

Faiths are playing a key role in the development of Local Strategic Partnerships (LSPs) at County / Unitary District and Neighbourhood level; for example, the Diocese of St Edmundsbury and Ipswich is involved in the Suffolk Strategic Partnership (county LSP). This contribution is recognised and encouraged by the Local Government Association Document Faith & Community Good Practice 2000.

Areas in which the faiths intend to develop their contribution include:

• Looking at ways of further engaging with Local Strategic Partnerships
• Developing opportunities for planners to meet local faith communities
• More local involvement in target setting — particular importance should be placed on developing local leadership to enable a community to articulate its needs effectively
• Involvement at policy making, managerial and delivery levels

Government policy on planning for new schools indicates that they should not only reflect the composition of their community, but must also be actively involved in it. It should be recognised that faith schools, although they have a distinctive mission and ethos, are still for the most part inclusive in their intake. As an example, some Church of England Primary Schools in Peterborough have a predominately Hindi intake.

The faiths wish to see spirituality at the heart of education, and inculcate the idea that religious belief need not be divisive. In this context many are working on areas such pupil intake, extra curricular activities, national curriculum delivery methods, school ethos, uniform, behavioural requirements and celebration of diversity.

It is also notable from recent research that faith groups are very active in liaising with local schools (both secular and those of other faiths) to promote understanding through activities such as school visits to places of worship.

The faiths of the region with their wide diversity of experience are once more ideally situated to influence the placement of new schools and the development of the curriculum, especially in terms of the values of education and the Religious Education curriculum. They also share concerns about its recent concentration on measuring success and the stress it is currently engendering in both pupils and staff. A number have much experience and a long tradition of thinking about education which they want to share with government, and we urge regional government and LSCs to extend their work with faiths to develop good channels of communication.

Whilst acknowledging the fact that the East Anglian region is a world leader into research into new farming techniques the faiths are concerned about the ethical impact of these changes. They are also concerned that some agricultural developments and technologies have led or could lead to rural poverty, isolation, lack of affordable housing and declining health.

The faiths of this region are very much involved in helping rural industries create a balance between the need to develop agricultural techniques and maintain already high levels of diversification, with the need to promote environmental sustainability and biodiversity. This involvement has included initiatives from association with the Cooperative Movement and the Industrial Common Ownership Fund to participating in East Anglian Food Link which encourages local uptake of organic produce and farmers’ markets etc.

The faiths in this region, by the very nature of where they exist and the people with whom they come into contact are well placed to address other farming issues such as difficulty of exporting, threat of disease, decreasing farm incomes and stock prices, decreasing work force, and loss of tied accommodation.

They also help with issues that affect the people of our region on concerns like seasonal working, poor levels of pay for highly skilled work, poor training and little opportunity to progress to higher skilled jobs. This ranges from support for decision making bodies to setting up organisations such as the Farm Crisis Network

It should be noted that faith input is substantially in line with government policy on the future of agriculture, as outlined in the Curry Report Farming and Food — A Sustainable Future and the report of the Policy Commission entitled The Future of Farming and Food [December 2002].

The East of England Public Health and Inequalities Task Force News written in September 2002 said, “Local Service Providers must be aware of local demography, understand the cultural and religious practices and languages of a community.” At a national level, the Acheson report (1998) said: “... [it] requires interventions which cut across sectors to take account of the broader social, cultural, economic, political and physical environments which shape people”s experiences of health and wellbeing.”

Both National and Regional strategy are increasingly based on the premise that for healthcare to be successful it must be planned, as far as is possible, by local people for local people. This reflects growing evidence that suggests social approaches to the organisation and delivery of public health may have considerable potential for health improvement.

Many faith groups in the region have first hand experience of heath needs and requirements at a local level, not least through their own activities in delivering education, advice and assistance in accessing healthcare. They already contribute by disseminating health information at the most local level and can additionally play an educative role offering advice and support. They can and should therefore play a more major role in setting health targets and policy.

Faith communities are also well placed to take forward growing links between faith and health and provide facilities for extending opportunities for complementary heath treatments.

Reports such as that on the Stephen Lawrence case endorse a growing body of evidence showing that the judicial process will be improved by an improvement of social capital in an area and a “bottom up” approach; this policy is being reflected on a national basis in government initiatives. Delivery of such initiatives requires strong community leadership and multi agency and local community co-operation — elements to which many faith centres in our region demonstrably contribute.

Many faith groups are already very involved providing justice-related services, from counselling and mediation to “neighbourhood watches” for some of our religious buildings. They are also working closely amongst those who have already been convicted and those who are “re-entering” life after conviction and prison; both formally as prison chaplains, and less formally, for example through “circles of support”.

The faith leaders are concerned about the part played by racism, poverty, lack of recognition, social exclusion, and failure of education in crime and the delivery of justice. They wish to play their part in addressing these wider issues, in particular where they are uniquely placed to do so. For example, there is anecdotal evidence that crime committed by some teenagers results from the breakdown of relationships within families and can be exacerbated by language difficulties. How can their communities provide opportunities for teenagers to safely question traditional beliefs, customs and practices without feeling alienated and excluded? Faith groups may well have a role to play here.

While it is right that police resources are devoted to crime prevention, the tools and concepts used for crime prevention (e.g. intelligence-led policing and profiling) must be evaluated, and if necessary, adapted, to ensure that privacy and the presumption of innocence are not damaged.

It is recognised both nationally and regionally that while the overall economy of the East of England is growing, there remain marked contrasts in relative affluence, and that there are pockets of severe poverty and deprivation even is apparently affluent areas where they are masked by ward statistics. The government has regeneration and development priorities for certain areas of the region, and it has been noted in Section 1 that faith groups can play a key role in promoting strategies for these areas. However, we would encourage regional government to act inclusively by addressing deprivation wherever it occurs.

There is agreement among faiths that wealth creation should not be and end in itself, but a means to building a society which is spiritually, mentally and physically healthy. The activity of creating wealth should be based on an assumption of the value of every human being to society, irrespective of their direct economic contribution.

Recognising this caveat, faith groups can and do contribute to the economy in a wide number of ways. They are often employers and purchasers; provide training opportunities which would not otherwise exist; and maintain the physical and social fabric of society in which people can realise their potential. As such, they claim a right to make input to the economic strategies affecting their wider communities at both local and regional level.

This document has been produced by the East of England Faiths Council with the approval of Buddhist, Christian, Hindu, Jewish, Muslim and Sikh representatives. We wish to express particular thanks for their contribution to: