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Decentralisation

My Lords, we should be grateful to the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, for raising this very important subject for our discussion today. The Church of England and, I believe, all faith groups in the United Kingdom are uniquely placed to make a positive contribution to any discussion on decentralisation and the importance for citizenship of the healthy and diverse local provision of public and other services and better ongoing community engagement in all aspects of modern life. It might seem a rather hackneyed truism, but in the life of the Church, as in the community more widely, local is often what matters most—certainly to individuals and families seeking to make sense of, and the most of, their lives. George Orwell’s threat of an end to diversity and the establishment of Big Brother, graphically exhibited in 1984, is not a thing of the past and community vitality, as underlined by the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, requires constantly to be nurtured and affirmed. The General Synod of the Church of England, a   body as richly diverse as your Lordships’ House, meets shortly in York. The location is important and relevant to our discussion today. The noble Lord, Lord Phillips, referred to the geographic or perceived distance from the centre. Apart from acknowledging the northern province of the Church, it also acknowledges that the Church as an institution is rooted throughout England—parish by parish, urban, rural and suburban. And in terms of history and contemporary understanding, the Church is neither London-centred nor top-down in its approach to ministry and community engagement. I believe that this helps us in an appreciation of some of the issues before us today. Way back in 1985, the Church of England published Faith in the City. The report was prepared by the then Archbishop of Canterbury’s Commission on Urban Priority Areas. It was set up by the late Archbishop Robert Runcie and it was a call for action to the Church and to the nation. The report highlighted the   growing number of people and places that were   experiencing disadvantage and exclusion at a time when others were experiencing economic boom. Although the focus was on urban matters, the message was, and to a great extent remains, universal, and the Church has promoted similar work looking at such problems in rural areas. The latter work enabled, for example, parish-based ministry, working with others in local communities, to respond quickly and by all accounts effectively when many such communities were traumatised by blows such as BSE, foot and mouth disease and swine fever. The local parish-based structures of the Church and their often longstanding relationships with secular and charitable organisations working locally provides a rich source of evidence, I believe, suggesting that there is a lot to celebrate in terms of healthy communities working and living together throughout these islands. But they must be supported. Those charged with the responsibility of government, at every level, need to keep the health of local communities and all who constitute them constantly in mind, certainly in a manner in which much and such public administration is delivered to them. The substantial body of evidence and commentary drawn together 20 years ago in the Faith in the City report, to which I referred, continue to be the subject of work and engagement right up to the present day. The Church is being invited into many new partnerships and   patterns of engagement alongside other faith communities. That needs to be underpinned by both resourcing and, of course, theological thinking. The Government say that their vision is of an ““urban renaissance””, one which depends on individuals and communities playing their full part. We need to think differently in the light of the changes that are affecting our urban and, increasingly, our rural communities. In many ways these changes become apparent in the events that make our news headlines: the eruption of violence back in 2001 in northern cities; the low turnouts, already referred to, in general and local elections; the crisis—or at least the severe and real dislocation—in the relationship between urban and rural populations. All point to a time of critical opportunity and challenge for all of us—for faith groups, tiers of government and, importantly, within and around the diverse communities we are all trying to serve. A greater awareness of regional identity and relationships has, of course, been fostered through the creation of the regional development agencies and an enhancement of the role of regional government offices. The former is now expected to take the lead in the allocation of resources for area-based regeneration. Regional performance is considered vital in the context of Europe, where many nations have cohesive regional economies and more regular distribution of resources and population. But, as a Bishop, I remain concerned about increasing regional disparities in economic performance, employment, house prices and, indeed, media profile, as well as the treatment and inclusion of faith communities in regional strategies. London, of course, continues to stake out its place as a global city in a context that places other British cities in a completely different league. Significant questions exist concerning London’s ability to develop appropriate strategies for regeneration and redistribution within itself and its relationship with other places in the United Kingdom and abroad. We are all increasingly aware of the European and global dimensions to issues of employment, corporate culture, migration and notions of belonging as well as identity and home. The Church is uniquely placed to provide an overview of regions from outside the business and local government perspectives. The interests of rural and urban communities, and often the poorest members of those communities, can be advocated by the Churches and other faith communities. There is, however, a need for greater liaison between those engaging with regional government bodies within and across the regions. It is vital that this level of engagement is undertaken in an ecumenical context which acknowledges the interfaith dimension. Twenty years on from Faith in the City, the Church of England, working closely with other United Kingdom faith groups, continues to celebrate the local and national partnerships that must succeed so that citizenship is enhanced and community vitality affirmed, and, indeed, Big Brother kept at bay. The Commission on Urban Life and Faith was launched at a meeting in this House in February last year. The Commission on Urban Life and Faith is a group of experienced practitioners on urban issues drawn from different communities around the country, all of whom have a commitment to improve life in disadvantaged urban areas. The commission’s aim is to promote a realistic and positive vision of urban life and the contribution of people of faith, based on an analysis of tension, delights, injustices and the needs of contemporary city and urban living. As a key part of that work, the commission has rightly spent   time looking at issues of concern to young people—the local communities not just of today but also of tomorrow. In conclusion, I pay tribute to the reverend noble Baroness, Lady Richardson of Calow, for her work as   chair of the commission and to the noble Lord, Lord Phillips, for initiating this interesting and vital debate. Like other noble Lords, I look forward to the   maiden speeches of the three new distinguished Members of the House.