In response to growing concerns about social polarisation and division in communities in Wales and the UK, the Senedd Equality and Social Justice (ESJ) Committee launched an inquiry into social cohesion at the end of 2024. The inquiry heard from community groups, public and third sector organisations, and Welsh Government Ministers and officials, on the main issues affecting social cohesion in Wales, examples of best practice and interventions to improve it, and the ways in which Welsh Government support for community groups and organisations could be strengthened. The inquiry also considered the impacts that the summer 2024 attacks across the UK have had on community cohesion in Wales.
Stressing an urgent need for policy action by the Welsh Government and other stakeholders, the Committee’s final report recommended the establishment of an independently chaired Expert Group on Social Cohesion to develop short-, medium- and long-term actions ahead of the Senedd election in May 2026. The Welsh Government asked the Wales Centre for Public Policy to support the work of the Expert Group on Social Cohesion by providing focused evidence support to help the Group identify these actions, responding to the following research questions:
1. What policy and practice interventions are effective in promoting and strengthening social cohesion?
2. What potential policy actions for Wales are indicated in the evidence on social cohesion interventions?
To address these questions, WCPP will review the academic literature submitted to the ESJ Committee’s social cohesion inquiry, alongside evidence provided through a call for submissions from members of the EGSC. This evidence will be supplemented by a review of existing evidence syntheses on interventions to promote social cohesion. Findings will be presented to the EGSC to inform their work to identify short- medium- and long-term actions for the Welsh Government, and published this summer.
WCPP's Yasmine Ghorayeb has published a blog summarising early findings of this work.
