4. Will the First Minister make a statement on community cohesion? OAQ(5)0309(FM)

Yes. Our community cohesion strategy was launched in 2009 and was recently updated. Its delivery is supported across Wales by eight regional community cohesion co-ordinators, based in local authorities and funding to continue this work in 2017-18 was approved last month by the Cabinet Secretary.

I thank the First Minister for that response. Last week, the Member of Parliament for Aberavon said that we must move away from multiculturalism and towards assimilation, and that we must stand for one group: the British people. Will the First Minister condemn these comments in no uncertain terms, and will he reassure this Assembly that such views are not representative of Welsh Government policy, and will he join me in celebrating the rich diversity of this country?

I didn’t hear the comments, if I’m honest, but what I can say is that there has never been an occasion ever in the history of this island where there’s been one culture, ever. It’s always been a multicultural island, whether it’s in terms of religion, whether it’s in terms of linguistic diversity, whether it’s in terms of the colour of people’s skin. The reality is that there have been people with black skin on these islands since the third century; it’s a myth to think that this is something new. It’s always been the case that Britain has been multicultural, and that is something we should celebrate, not be afraid of.

In the Welsh Government’s community cohesion national delivery plan 2016-17, the then Minister, Lesley Griffiths, for communities and tackling poverty stated:

‘We are moving to a new climate where a Wales of Cohesive Communities is enshrined in the national goals through our Wellbeing of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015. This will ensure cohesion remains at the heart of how Public Bodies deliver policies and services in the future.’

Will the First Minister outline how the Welsh Government currently sees the state of community cohesion in Wales, and what future actions can be taken to enhance it further?

I refer the Member again to the answer I gave earlier in terms of the community cohesion plan and, of course, the work of the regional co-ordinators in making sure that plan moves ahead. We know that there have been challenges in the aftermath of Brexit where, in some communities, there has been an increase in hate crime. That is something I hope is temporary and not something, clearly, that provides us with a worrying trend for the future. We know that cohesive communities are happier communities. When people are not in conflict with each other, then their lives are better as a result of it, and we’ll continue to make sure that what we do in terms of promoting community cohesion helps to raise people’s sense of well-being, falling in line as well, of course, with the Well-being of Future Generations (Wales) Act 2015.

Although the future generations commissioner has said that the aim is to make public bodies think more about the long term, work better with people, with communities and each other, and seek to prevent problems occurring and tackle common issues by taking a more joined-up approach, something also reflected in duties required under the Social Services and Well-being (Wales) Act 2014, too many local authorities are still interpreting this as a hierarchical, ‘we decide first and then consult’ requirement. How will you, therefore, finally, work with the brilliant all-Wales co-production network for Wales, which is on the ground delivering projects on this basis, enabling professionals and citizens to share power and work together in equal partnership? And also, one of the organisations, Oxfam Cymru, specifically has called on your Government to embed the sustainable livelihoods approach in all policy and service delivery in Wales, helping people identify their own strengths in order to tackle root problems preventing them and their communities from reaching their potential.

Community cohesion can’t be imposed. It has to grow organically from grass roots in order for it to be sustainable and robust, and so I would expect local authorities to work in genuine partnership with organisations that have experience of delivering on the ground in order to make sure that cohesion is robust within the communities that local authorities serve.