Cantle calls for new institute to teach community relations

The author of an influential government report on race relations is planning to set up an institute to promote community cohesion skills.

Ted Cantle, who led a Home Office investigation into riots in Oldham, Burnley and Bradford in 2001, is in talks with “a number of universities and potential partners” about the location and funding of a centre of expertise, intended to open later this year.

He said: “There’s a much better understanding of the whole process than there was a few years ago, but I still think there is a dearth of skills and a need for much greater levels of training and development.

“There needs to be a formal seat of learning for the development of both theory and practice. Equally, there needs to be a much greater level of basic skills training.”

Housing workers would make a key contribution, he added. “I want to avoid this being any kind of ivory tower. It will only work if we can relate theory to practice and it does have councils, housing associations, voluntary organisations involved alongside academics.” He said government, universities and councils were “enthusiastic” about the idea.

Cantle, who is an associate director of the Improvement and Development Agency, criticised housing allocations policies for encouraging segregation of white and minority-ethnic communities in his report, published in December 2001. He has also warned that choice-based lettings policies could reinforce social barriers (HT 25 June 2004, page 5).

Speaking after an event on housing for refugees organised by the Housing Associations Charitable Trust on Wednesday in Manchester, Cantle said awareness of community cohesion issues had improved but social landlords needed to work more closely with other agencies.

“There’s a danger that housing organisations just look at their own particular interests, but they’ve got to see how that is going to fit in with employment and schooling patterns. Nobody is taking the lead and looking at how people are coping across the board. I suspect that housing is going to be in the strongest position to do that.”

Yvonne Hutchinson, director of consultancy Community Chameleon, said: “I think that’s a good idea. They will have to be quite brave if they’re going to make the progress that needs to be made. There are some very sensitive issues, and in areas like housing many subjects are still very much taboo.”