Panel named for independent review into Leicester civil unrest
The Secretary of State for Levelling Up, Housing and Communities, Michael Gove, has selected three panellists to conduct an independent review into civil unrest that occurred in Leicester last year.
The panel will offer recommendations to Leicester City Council and local police on how to avoid similar future events.
Forty-seven people were arrested in September 2022 after community tensions led to a spate of vandalism, assaults, and attacks on places of worship and other properties in Leicester, in some cases highlighting divisions between different groups across the city.
Following the unrest, community leaders, councillors and local police agreed to commission an independent review.
Commenting on the call for an independent review at the time, Leicester's Mayor, Sir Peter Soulsby, said: "My intention is to have a review of what led up to the events at the weekend, and also to seek some independent thoughts on how we all - council, police and communities - can learn from this, and what we can do at a local level to ensure it doesn't happen again."
Gove appointed Lord Ian Austin as chair earlier this year and has now announced the names of the three panellists who will work alongside him. These are:
- Dr Samir Shah CBE: a former Commissioner for the Commission on Race and Ethnic Disparities, former chair of the independent race equality think tank The Runnymede Trust for ten years and was a member of the Holocaust Commission.
- Professor Hilary Pilkington: Professor of Sociology at the University of Manchester and Fellow of the UK Academy of Social Sciences. She coordinated the H2020 DARE (Dialogue about Radicalisation and Equality) project, and her research includes focus to the study of youth participation, activism, stigmatisation and extremism in the UK.
- Dr Shaaz Mahboob: Head of Digital Development NHS England and trustee of British Muslims for Secular Democracy for 10 years until 2018, including its Vice Chair for a number of years.
According to Gove, the independent panel will establish the facts, identify the underlying causes of last year's unrest and make recommendations.
The recommendations will be "practical" and focus on how similar events that may arise in the future could be prevented. They will also set out proposals and ideas for strengthening social cohesion locally.
The panel is expected to publish the findings of the review next year.
Lord Austin said: "We want to listen to people in Leicester to understand last year's events, what can be learned from them and how communities in the city can work together to prevent problems in future.
"It is therefore vital that the review is comprehensive and even-handed and that this aim is reflected in the panellists we appoint.
"The diverse panel brings together a wealth of experience and knowledge, which should result in an honest, frank and productive review."
Adam Carey
