The motion was moved by Councillor David Williams and seconded by Councillor Abdul Latif.

The Labour amendment, as set out in agenda item 24 was moved by Councillor Brenda Fraser and seconded by Councillor Imran Uddin.

The Labour amendment was then put to the vote and was carried – votes in favour 38, and votes against 20 with 1 abstention.

The substantive resolution was then agreed.

RESOLVED

This Council notes that Merton’s current Community Cohesion Strategy 2012-2015 will shortly come to an end, although it remains fit for purpose under the new statutory PREVENT regime and there is no impediment to it continuing in place whilst a new strategy is developed. The timetable for renewing the Merton Community Cohesion Strategy has slipped due to reduced staff capacity and the need to focus existing capacity on the frontline of actually delivering the community cohesion strategy on the ground, as illustrated by the agenda/minutes of the Joint Consultative Committee with Ethnic Minorities in July and September 2015. Council acknowledges that it is important to ensure full consultation on the strategy so that we get the aspirations and priorities right and that a rushed strategy with inadequate consultation will not well serve the people of Merton.

The legal and statutory implications in the last report to the JCC remind the Council that under the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 it has a duty in the exercise of its functions to have ‘due regard to the need to prevent people being drawn into terrorism’ and that the strategy will ...... promote inclusion and support local people to get involved in their local community and to continue to build good relations in the borough’, which is what the existing strategy was designed to achieve and what the new strategy will build on.

The Council resolves to recommend to the Merton Partnership, which is made up of organisations including the police, the council, the NHS and voluntary sector organisations – as owners of the strategy – to inject a greater degree of urgency into the process of renewal where possible, bearing in mind the need to ensure full consultation and the significant reduction in the capacity of organisations such as the police to undertake partnership work in the light of cuts in their funding from central government, and:

1). Ensure that full consultation with all relevant partners and groups in the borough is undertaken prior to the implementation from February 2016.

2). Continue to encourage meaningful dialogue between the key stakeholders (i.e. Thematic Partnerships; Safer Stronger Group/Executive Board; JCC and Faith and Belief Forum and the Executive Board itself) that includes and goes beyond the aspirations consulted on and agreed by the partnership outlined in the identified seven key priorities (ie improving engagement with minority and new communities, monitoring community tensions, continuing inter-faith dialogue, supporting and engaging with the voluntary sector, supporting employment and economic development opportunities, encouraging and supporting children, young people and families, and improving health outcomes)

3).  Acknowledging that “community cohesion” is a broad concept and that rigid measurements of levels of cohesion are not always possible, continue to include a detailed action plan and to impose where appropriate and helpful a rigour with targets and expectation of outcomes that are SMART (specific, measurable, attainable, relevant and timely)

4). Continue to support the promotion of the use of the English language by all established groups receiving public funding, bearing in mind the requirements of the Equality Act.