Evaluation of Getting on Together: the Community Cohesion Strategy for Wales

There were three major strands to the evaluation approach:

• the Welsh Government strand of work
• the local authority strand of work
• a case study strand evaluated the delivery of a sample of projects supported by the Community Cohesion Fund and associated outcomes.

A fourth strand of work focused on monitoring trends in cohesion through analysis of survey and administrative data.

The key facets of the Welsh approach to community cohesion have been outlined and widely disseminated. A more joined-up approach to community cohesion has been nurtured across department boundaries within the Welsh Government. Local authorities and their partners have been provided with a framework to support the development of a local approach to community cohesion. All 22 local authorities in Wales have engaged with the agenda and hundreds of local projects have been delivered in a bid to strengthen community cohesion in Wales.

Recommendations

• Collection of perception data on community cohesion at local and national levels.
• Maximising links between cohesion objectives and the Communities First programme.
• Linking efforts to promote and mainstream community cohesion to delivery of the Equalities Duty.