Community Development

Mr. Rob Wilson
To ask the Secretary of State for Communities and Local Government what discussions her Department has had with the (a) Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills and (b) higher education sector on community cohesion issues.

Mr. Dhanda
The Department has worked closely with the Department for Innovation, Universities and Skills (DIUS) on community cohesion issues, particularly: on the citizens’ juries to examine provision of English for speakers of other languages (ESOL) held in London and Hull in December 2007; and the DIUS stakeholder steering group established to discuss community cohesion, and tackling extremism throughout post-16 education, which includes bodies from both the further education and higher education sectors.