A GOVERNMENT minister has praised a council’s draft submission for cash to promote community cohesion, and promised it millions of pounds.

Lord Bourne of Aberystwyth said Blackburn with Darwen’s initial proposals for the new £50million pilot Integrated Communities Strategy were ‘very much in tune’ with ministerial thinking.

The faith minister was in the borough for talks with council leader Mohammed Khan as part of a two-day tour of the North West.

On Friday he met members of Blackburn Rovers Community Trust at Ewood Park and visited Accrington’s £8.6m Raza Jamia Mosque opened in December.

Blackburn with Darwen is one of five boroughs selected to take part in the strategy announced in March

Lord Bourne said: “I had a very good meeting with Cllr Khan. The council’s draft submission is very much in tune with government thinking.

“We were particularly impressed by their commitment to involving youth and women in the strategy.

“It is very early days yet but we are talking about Blackburn with Darwen getting millions of pounds not thousands, but it is not all about the money. We are talking about a long-term programme, not a quick funding fix.

“There is a lot of good work going on with youth organisations, and particularly Scout groups working across different communities.

“I was also impressed with the borough’s schools linking programme bringing schools with different communities together for sports and other events.”

Cllr Khan said: “It was an interesting meeting and we discussed our initial proposals for the Strategy.

“I stressed our emphasis on youth and women in our plans and pointed out the recent election of two female councillors of South Asian origin.”

Initial consultations on the Government’s Integration Strategy Green Paper close on June 5, with full applications due in by September.

People who wish to take part in the government's consultatin on The Integrated Communities Strategy Green Paper can access it via the following link:

https://www.gov.uk/government/consultations/integrated-communities-strategy-green-paper