The Solihull Faiths Covenant is a joint commitment between faith communities and partners within the Solihull Partnership to a set of principles that guide engagement, aiming to improve collaborative partnerships and to promote open, practical working on all levels. It is built on the following principles:
- Faith communities are free to practise their beliefs and religious observances without restriction, to raise their voice in public debate and to be respected, within the framework of UK law.
- Public services and faith based social action should respect service users from all backgrounds, with no discrimination on the grounds of religion, gender, marital status, race, ethnic origin, age, sexual orientation or disability.
- The voice, participation and solutions that faith communities bring are important, and their involvement in the decision making process should enable them to benefit the wider community.
- Organisations and services will be stronger by drawing on diverse sources of funding, recognising that monopolies of funding, action and participation are seen to be detrimental to the common good or benefit of all.
The Faith Covenant was signed on Monday 21 September 2015 By Shantose Kaur on behalf of the Faiths Forum and Cllr Diana Holl-Allen on behalf of Solihull Council and its partners and is seeking to be the next step in strengthening the working relationship between the local authority and significant leaders within the faith communities.
The full text can be found on the Council Web site.