New social cohesion strategy to go before council leaders

The Stronger Leeds Strategy 2026-30 includes plans for addressing issues that impact on people’s sense of belonging and celebrating the city’s vibrant diversity.

Social cohesion refers to how well people from different backgrounds and cultures get on and live together peacefully, sharing common values, goals, and responsibilities.

The strategy states a need to invest in and strengthen social connections across faith, race and difference to build trust and a shared sense of pride in the city that can resist forces of division.

Following discussions with communities around what they want to see, the strategy outlines four principles that will be focused on – participation, relationships, belonging, and equality.

These principles align with and will contribute to the recently launched Leeds Ambitions, a roadmap aimed at tackling poverty and inequality.

The delivery plan for the strategy focuses on work with the voluntary sector, faith groups, grassroots organisations and public sector partners, which form the cornerstones of communities. It also sets out a full list of actions to drive progress in the first year, reflecting responses from communities about how they feel relationships could be improved and barriers to social cohesion addressed.

One of the focus points in the strategy is to facilitate conversation to understand differences, with an objective being to prioritise engagement with young people through schools and youth services in discussions around inclusion, critical thinking, stereotypes, and misconceptions.

Another area of focus is to “Continue to learn about our communities, and what works and doesn’t work for them” which includes involving residents in discussions and decisions.

As the new strategy is announced, the council, in collaboration with anchor organisations across the city is running its anti-discrimination campaign using posters in the city centre and social media activity.

The campaign, which launched in 2025, spreads a message of non-tolerance for misogyny, racism, anti-Muslim prejudice, antisemitism, Hinduphobia, ageism, homophobia, biphobia and transphobia, and disability discrimination.

It also strives to highlight the pride that people feel in the city’s diversity through the overall tagline “What makes us different makes us Leeds”.

Councillor Asghar Khan, Leeds City Council’s executive member for communities, customer service and community safety, said: “We are incredibly proud to be one of the most multicultural cities in the UK, something we want to celebrate.

“Recent years have presented challenges that have tested connections between communities, and people’s sense of belonging across the UK.

“Social cohesion is something that requires ongoing efforts, and the new Stronger Leeds Strategy 2026-30 comes after extensive community engagement and research to understand the challenges people face.

“This is all part of our work to make Leeds the best city to live in, built on equality of opportunity and respect for all communities. We want everyone in Leeds to feel respected and welcome, and we will not tolerate any discrimination or hate crime.”

Read the full strategy at Council and democracy (agenda item 6).

ENDS