Author Archives: Matt Allen

Jeremy Hunt’s speech on 17 November did not deliver the heavy blow to public services that many were expecting. However, it did little to brighten the gloomy forecast for the months ahead. While we welcome the increased spending on health and social care and schools, […]

This year was undoubtedly FaithAction’s busiest Inter Faith Week so far. Each evening of the week we found ourselves out and about speaking at or organising one event or another, mostly hearing about the great work local groups did to serve local communities throughout the […]

Last week, the Chancellor issued his Autumn Budget and Spending Review, reflecting an ambitious mix of higher public spending, higher wages, and new efforts to ‘make sure work pays’, paving the way towards an economy ‘fit for a new age of optimism’ post-COVID. The new […]

We have been very proud of the ways in which we have worked closely with the Ministry for Housing Communities and Local Government during the past few years, never more so than during the pandemic. But no longer will you hear us talk proudly of […]

On this very day last year, 10 June 2020, we held our first virtual focus groups. At that time, we were emerging from the first lockdown, with the new ‘rule-of-six’ permitted for outdoor meetings, and the first pupils returning to schools.

We completed six other single-faith focus groups that week, along with one women’s multifaith group, and though we slowed the frequency later in the year, we kept these focus groups running consistently throughout the entire year.

Sadiq Khan has secured his second term as Mayor of London. In his acceptance speech following his successful re-election, Khan focused on the need to ‘build bridges’ – between City Hall and Government, between the capital and the rest of the country, and between the […]

On 5th November 2020, the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Faith and Society launched their latest report. Almost six months on, we wanted to remind you of the findings from this important report and give you an update on the activity that has occurred since […]

Recently, we have spent a lot of time emphasising the role that faith communities have played in responding to the pandemic. We have also been eager to remind people of the role they played prior to the pandemic and ought to play after it (see […]

On 1st January, Britain officially transitioned to a new relationship with the European Union on the terms set out in the EU–UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement, agreed in the final days of 2020. In his speech at the press conference that followed, Boris Johnson announced […]

There is momentum growing around the role that faith communities can play in British society. As revealed by reports such as the recent Keeping the Faith report from the APPG on Faith and Society, local authorities are eager to work more closely with faith communities […]