FaithAction launches evaluation into ten years of partnership working through Faith Covenant

By
LifeLine Comms Team
on
April 24, 2026

On Tuesday 28th April in Westminster, FaithAction will bring together partners from across government, faith communities, and local organisations to mark the completion of a major piece of work looking at how the Faith Covenant has developed over the past ten years.

Announced last year during Faith in Partnership Week 2025, the evaluation was carried out in  a partnership between the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Faith and Society and a research team from Coventry University and the Centre for Inclusive Evaluation, supported by funding from the Sir Halley Stewart Trust.

It is the first time work has been undertaken at this level—over the past six months, the research team have been speaking to people from across the 33 Covenant areas, exploring how local councils and faith groups have worked together through the Covenant, what has helped partnerships to grow, and what lessons can be learned for the future.

The Faith Covenant

Championed by the APPG for Faith and Society, for which FaithAction is the secretariat, the Faith Covenant lays out a set of principles for open and clear partnership working between local government and faith communities to drive better delivery of public services.

First signed by Birmingham City Council in 2014, the Covenant now covers 33 Local Authority areas and over 12 million people.

The launch event will provide an opportunity to hear directly from the researchers and those involved in the work, as well as representatives from the APPG, including Chair Zöe Franklin MP and Officer Anne Dixon MP, and faith and council partners. The discussion will focus on the journey of the evaluation, reflections on the process, and the importance of continued partnership working between faith groups and public services.

The event comes at a time when there is increasing focus on how different sectors can work together to support stronger communities. The Faith Covenant has been used in many areas across the country to help build understanding and trust between local authorities and faith organisations, and this evaluation will help inform future approaches to partnership working.

Attendees will also be able to take part in discussion and reflection during the event, with time set aside for questions and informal conversation.
With a backdrop of renewed government commitment to cross-sector working, via the national Civil Society Covenant, ongoing local authority reorganisation, and a new strategy for Social Cohesion, the report—to be released next week—will set out the key lessons from the evaluation and provide recommendations for how partnership working can be strengthened in the years ahead.

The Faith Covenant Evaluation is now available!

Across our society, social cohesion is sadly under strain. Communities are dealing with rising pressure from inequality, the lingering effects of the pandemic, cost of living crisis, and global events that resonate deeply at a local level as well as national. And trust between institutions, and often, communities can sometimes not be taken for granted. And it's in this context, the Faith Covenant really, really matters. Not as a one off document but as a long term framework for trust, dialog, and collaboration.

Zöe Franklin MP, Chair of the APPG on Faith and Society
Read FaithAction's report on the launch
Download the evaluation

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