Colin Bloom’s Independent Faith Engagement Review: ‘Does government do God?’ has been published today. You can find a link to the review here, and the press notice issued by the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities here.
The review considers government’s engagement with faith, people of faith and places of worship across a broad range of themes including faith literacy across public services, faith in education, prisons and the probation service, the UK Armed Forces, faith-based extremism, financial and social exploitation, and forced marriage.
More than 21,000 people responded to the public consultation and today Colin Bloom has set 22 recommendations for government to consider. The key messages are that faith is an ‘overriding force for good’ and government needs to improve its engagement with these groups, and that a better understanding of faith will help government tackle systematic issues including forced marriages, child safeguarding and extremism.
It is important to note that this review is independent and does not represent UK government policy. Government will consider the findings and will respond in due course.