Closed call for evidence

Independent Review of Social Cohesion and Resilience: call for evidence

Updated 1 June 2022

Applies to England

1. Topic of call for evidence

This call for evidence seeks views on: the experience of victims of extremism, protecting social cohesion and strengthening resilience against extremist and other harmful divisive activity. These views will help underpin the findings and recommendations of Sara Khan Independent Review of Social Cohesion and Resilience.

2. Scope of call for evidence

Dame Sara Khan has been appointed by the Prime Minister as the Independent Adviser for Social Cohesion and Resilience at the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC). Sara will work to understand the harm extremism is causing local communities, build resilience against it and better support victims, local authorities and civil society who are working to counter harmful extremist activity which is undermining social cohesion and our democratic freedoms.

This call for evidence is focussed around three main themes:

• Experiences of those targeted by extremists and other divisive actors
• Understanding the role of local authorities and public bodies in promoting cohesion and countering extremism
• Supporting local communities and civil society to challenge extremism, develop community resilience and promote cohesion

Sara will make a series of recommendations on how to build resilience against extremism, understand its impact, and better support its victims and those working to counter it to the Levelling Up Secretary and Prime Minister as part of her review.

3. Introduction and background

As the government’s Independent Adviser for Social Cohesion and Resilience, Sara Khan is gathering evidence on the harm extremism is causing at a local level, with a focus on its impact on individuals, local communities and social cohesion. She will hear from victims of extremism, local authorities and those on the frontline working to combat it – from teachers, faith leaders to local councillors, and from those in more specialist counter extremism roles. The review will seek to understand the breadth of challenges, risks and support required when faced with extremism at a local level, and how to protect social cohesion and strengthen community resilience.

The review will identify gaps in existing approaches and put forward recommendations to the government on what more is needed to better support and protect those who challenge and/or fall victim to extremist activity, and what more is required in partnership with others to prevent and resolve extremism and other divisive activity in local communities.

This call for evidence is divided into three main sections:

• Experiences of those targeted by extremists e.g. Far Right, Far Left, Islamist and other religious fundamentalists
• Understanding the role of local authorities and public bodies in promoting cohesion and countering extremism
• Supporting local communities and civil society to challenge extremism, develop community resilience and promote cohesion

This call for evidence is inviting responses from:

• Individual members of the public
• Those who have been targeted by extremists, those who have witnessed the impact and provided support to those targeted by extremists
• Frontline practitioners in social cohesion and counter-extremism roles
• Representatives from local authorities, including elected Councillors, Chief Executives, Directors, officers and frontline employees
• Representatives from public bodies, including the police, schools and colleges, and other service providers
• Representatives from local partnerships and bodies, such as Community Safety Partnerships and Local Resilience Forums
• Journalists
• Politicians
• Academics engaged in empirical research on social cohesion, community resilience and extremism issues
• Those who work in think-tanks, charities, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and civil society organisations (CSOs) in roles that are related to social cohesion, community resilience and extremism
• Private sector, including local businesses

Those providing evidence are not required or expected to complete every section, only those which are most relevant to their experience.

For the purposes of this call for evidence, please refer to the following definitions:

• Government 2015 definition of extremism: Extremism is the vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect and tolerance of different faiths and beliefs. We also regard calls for the death of members of our armed forces as extremist.

Commission for Countering Extremism 2021 definition of hateful extremism: Activity or materials directed at an out-group who are perceived as a threat to an in-group motivated by or intending to advance a political, religious or racial supremacist ideology to a) create a climate conducive to hate crime, terrorism or other violence; or b) attempt to erode or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of our democratic society as protected under Article 17 of Schedule 1 to the Human Rights Act 1998 (‘HRA’).

• Definition of Integrated community from DLUHC’s Integrated Community Strategy: where people – whatever their background – live, work, learn and socialise together, based on shared rights, responsibilities and opportunities.
• Definition of Anti-cohesion activity – activity that is designed to undermine an integrated community, according to the definition above

We understand the threatening behaviour used by extremist groups and individuals can often be traumatic for those who have experienced it and that this call for evidence is asking a number of questions that may be difficult to answer when reflecting on distressing events. We appreciate some people may feel reticent in responding. However, it is essential these voices are heard and experiences understood. We are grateful for all those who choose to take part in this call for evidence.

If you require any support, or find any questions within the call for evidence upsetting, please consider contacting a support helpline:

• Victim Support 24/7 Helpline: 08 08 16 89 111
• Samaritans: 116 123
• CALM for men 5pm to midnight: 0800 58 58 58
• Papyrus 9am to midnight: 0800 068 41 41 or text 07860 039967

We appreciate full and honest answers to this call for evidence. Your opinions are valuable to us and we are very grateful for the time taken to respond to this call for evidence. We expect each section to take around 15 - 20 minutes.

4. How to respond

We will only accept responses to this call for evidence via the link provided. Please respond to this call for evidence via the online form. Any responses received outside of the online form will not be considered as part of the call for evidence and will be securely deleted.

The call for evidence can be completed on any device (eg. laptop, mobile, tablet). Please complete and submit your response in one sitting: You will not be able to save and return to your response at a later date.

5. About this consultation

We recognise that themes in this call for evidence are sensitive and some questions relate to individuals’ personal circumstances relating to extremism. Please be assured that we will treat this in strict confidence, only use this for the purpose of this call for evidence, and ensure it is kept securely. Unless specifically requested, individual responses will not be published. Otherwise, response data will only be published at an anonymised and aggregate level. Use of case studies in any eventual reports published by the Independent Advisor will be with the full consent of the individual.

This consultation document and consultation process have been planned to adhere to the consultation principles issued by the Cabinet Office.

Information provided in response to this consultation, including personal data, may be published or disclosed in accordance with the access to information regimes (these are primarily the Freedom of Information Act 2000 (FOIA), the Data Protection Act 2018, the UK General Data Protection Regulation, and the Environmental Information Regulations 2004). Personal identifiable information will be redacted in order to protect individual privacy.

Please be aware that, as a public authority, the department is bound by the Freedom of Information Act and may therefore be obliged to disclose all or some of the information you provide. As such we cannot give an assurance that confidentiality can be maintained in all circumstances. An automatic confidentiality disclaimer generated by your IT system will not, of itself, be regarded as binding on the department.

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities will process your personal data in accordance with the law. A full privacy notice is included below.

Your opinions are valuable to us. Thank you for taking the time to read this document and respond.

Are you satisfied that this consultation has followed the consultation principles? If not or you have any other observations about how we can improve the process please contact us via the complaints procedure.

Geographical scope

This call for evidence relates to England.

Body/bodies responsible for the consultation

The Independent Advisor for Social Cohesion and Resilience Team within the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

Duration

This consultation will last for 8 weeks from 7 April 2022 until 2 June 2022 and is now extended until 23 June 2022.

Enquires

For any enquiries about this consultation please contact socialcohesionandresiliencereview@levellingup.gov.uk.

Disclosure

Please do not include any accusations or allegations of illegal activity against individuals, this is not a platform to report crime. Should you need to report a crime please do so through the appropriate channels.

In the event of criminal or safeguarding issues being submitted by respondents, DLUHC may share the response with the relevant authorities, in order to protect the safety of respondents, and in line with UK data protection exemption around the prevention and detection of crime.

6. Privacy notice

This Privacy Notice explains to you how and why we’ll use your personal data if you choose to respond to the call for evidence, and what personal data we will collect and use. We may update our Privacy Notice as required while the review is running.

Please note that, if you provide a response or data via email and not via the online form, it will not be considered as part of the call for evidence and will be securely deleted – we will only accept responses via our secure online form.

6.1 The identity and contact details of the Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) and our Data Protection Officer

The Department for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC) is the data controller. The Data Protection Officer can be contacted at dataprotection@levellingup.gov.uk

6.2 Why we are collecting the data

Your personal data will be collected (where provided) as part of the call for evidence for the Independent Review of Social Cohesion and Resilience, which is being undertaken by Dame Sara Khan to understand and build resilience against the negative impact of extremism and better support its victims and those working to counter it.

Specifically, we may process personal data to build recommendations regarding matters covered in your responses.

The review will assess what more can be done to bolster protection and support for counter extremists and those who fall victim to extremism in England. It will make a series of recommendations to the Levelling Up Secretary and Prime Minister on how to build resilience against extremism, understand its impact, and better support its victims and those working to counter it. Collecting views from the public, and from experts in the subject, will help to achieve the review to meet these aims.

RSM UK Consulting have been appointed as data processor to analyse responses (please see section 6.4 below).

The data processor will use standard quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques to classify and group the data according to themes. These will be at an anonymous and aggregate level, so that individual responses will not be identifiable. This evidence will be used to inform the Independent Reviewer’s recommendations and may be published as part of the Review.

6.3 Legal basis for processing the data

Data protection legislation sets out when we are lawfully allowed to process your data.

The lawful basis that applies to this processing is:

• Article 6(1)(e) of the UK GDPR: “the processing is necessary for the performance of a task carried out in the public interest or in the exercise of official authority vested in the controller”.
• Chapter 2 Section 8(d) of the DPA 2018: “processing is necessary for the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown or a government department”.

Where we may process “special category” personal data – e.g. data that reveals racial or ethnic origin, religious or philosophical beliefs – our lawful basis that applies to this processing is

• Article 9(2)(g) of the UK GDPR: “the processing of special categories of data is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest on the basis of UK law”.
• Section 10(3) and paragraph 6, part 2 of Schedule 1 to the DPA 2018: “the processing is necessary for reasons of substantial public interest and its purpose is the exercise of a function of the Crown, a Minister of the Crown or a government department”.

6.4 With whom we will be sharing the data

Personal data that you provide may be shared with the Independent Adviser, Dame Sara Khan. Specifically, data fields in the form that you complete – but not your name or email address – will be shared with the Adviser. This will enable her to build relevant and person-centred recommendations, with a focus on supporting victims, in her Review.

DLUHC is using Microsoft Forms as our data collection tool and we will store your data using Microsoft and government IT systems. Our agreement in place with Microsoft ensures that they are held to the same strict data protection and privacy standards as DLUHC.

Personal data will be shared with another data processor – RSM UK Consulting – for the sole purpose of analysing the data to identify and understand the themes identified within the call for evidence and for creating a series of reports synthesising the data for DLUHC. Where names and email addresses have been provided by respondents, for the purpose of taking part in further evidence collection (such as interviews and focus groups), these will also be shared with RSM UK Consulting. In this instance, RSM UK Consulting may contact you to follow up on your response.

RSM UK Consulting are  held to the same strict data protection and privacy standards as DLUHC via our agreement with them.

In the event of criminal or safeguarding issues being submitted by respondents, DLUHC may share the response with the relevant authorities, in order to protect the safety of respondents and/or if we are required by law to share such information.

No identifiable data will be made public. Response data will only be published at an anonymised and aggregate level.

To make a complaint, see section 6.10 below.

6.5 For how long we will keep the personal data, or criteria used to determine the retention period

Your personal data be deleted by DLUHC and RSM UK Consulting when the Review is concluded, or by March 2024 at the latest.

6.6 Your rights, e.g. access, rectification, erasure

The data we are collecting is your personal data, and you have rights that affect what happens to it. You have the right to:

a. know that we are using your personal data
b. see what data we have about you
c. ask to have your data corrected, and to ask how we check the information we hold is accurate
d. ask to have your data deleted
e. complain to the ICO (see below).

6.7 Will my data be sent overseas?

Data will not be transferred outside the EEA/EU or any country not considered as offering an equivalent level of protection under UK data protection standards.

6.8 We will not use your data for any automated decision making.

6.9 Storage, security and data management

Your data will be collected via Microsoft Forms and DLUHC will store your personal data in a secure government IT system. Our agreements with our data processors require them to have secure systems where they may process your data.

6.10 Complaints and more information

When we ask you for information, we will keep to the law, including the Data Protection Act 2018 and UK General Data Protection Regulation.

If you are unhappy with the way the department has acted, you can make a complaint.

If you are not happy with how we are using your personal data, you should first contact dataprotection@levellingup.gov.uk.

If you are still not happy, or for independent advice about data protection, privacy and data sharing, you can contact:

The Information Commissioner’s Office
Wycliffe House
Water Lane
Wilmslow, Cheshire,
SK9 5AF

Telephone: 0303 123 1113 or 01625 545 745
Information Commissioner’s Office website