Empty town centre Photo by Gary Butterfield on Unsplash
Sustainable and equitable government funding to maintain the social networks and infrastructures created through the pandemic is essential if the country is to recover post-COVID, academics from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE) argue in a new report.
The result of 12 months of research, the reportfinds that 40 per cent of respondents surveyed had felt socially isolated during the pandemic, and 81 per cent had experienced new stressors. However, over the pandemic, third sector, faith-based and grassroots organisations have carved out innovative new ways to provide support to people at times when traditional avenues were shut or severely restricted. These “social infrastructures” have played a valuable role in encouraging cohesion, mutuality and support for communities the researchers find. However, many have been run by volunteers or with minimal funding, and are now at risk of collapse without central and local government support.
If these networks are not adequately supported, the report cautions, policymakers risk being unable to address key issues of trust, compliance, innovation and enterprise that are all needed to rebuild the country economically. Instead, government risks increasing already entrenched inequalities experienced by disadvantaged communities across the country.
Professor Laura Bear, Head of the Department of Anthropology at LSE and lead researcher, said: “Throughout the pandemic, communities have had to build new networks and our findings reveal not just how important these social infrastructures have been in sustaining UK society during the pandemic, but how significant they are for recovery from it. All communities, but particularly ones experiencing extreme deprivation and inequalities, can benefit from these new avenues of support. But without government funding these networks will collapse and the benefits built up over the pandemic will be lost.
“While these local networks may appear less important than the more direct ways of facilitating health and economic recovery - such as vaccination drives and providing economic support to businesses - there is a clear gain to be made from providing funding support, and a danger that by neglecting them, government could be encouraging further division and a growth in inequalities and disadvantage across the country.”
Government support can mean the difference between a project bringing people together or creating further division, the researchers find. Schemes that have been supported by government policy – such as Community Champions, local grant investments and income support – have proved to be sustainable. Areas that have lacked government support – social isolation payments of funding for voluntary sector organisations for example – have been less successful. In these cases, the researchers find that new inequalities and areas of stigma have been generated, further threatening social cohesion and increasing existing forms of disadvantage.
To ensure that funding is sustainable and equitable, the report calls for a national consultation or a Royal Commission on Social Infrastructures to be set up, with the aim of establishing a permanent body similar to the National Infrastructure Commission to provide ongoing strategic advice on how to plan and fund infrastructures on a national and local level.
The report also identifies several immediate measures that government could take to boost recovery. These include: Reopening community centres, with central government grants for investment in the construction of community hubs in areas disadvantaged during the COVID-19 pandemic; Providing national level funding targeted at national and local voluntary sector and third sector organisations, especially those run by minority and disadvantaged groups; and expansion of the Community Champions programme to support coordination efforts between groups at a local level.
National and local recognition through awards and honours of the hidden work carried out by the voluntary and community organization sector during the pandemic is also suggested as a way to bring people together.
Download "Social Infastructures for the Post-COVID Recovery in the UK" by the COVID and Care Research Group.