About Brent
Brent is a borough in Northwest London and is one of the most diverse boroughs in the country with over 55% of its residents born outside the UK (This is the highest proportion in England and Wales).
Brent has a population of 339,800 and is the 5th largest borough in London. Like most London boroughs Brent has a younger age profile, with more adults aged 20-44. However, in line with wider trends, the population is ageing, and the number of children under five has fallen. This information is taken from the Census 2021, which was a snapshot of the population during the pandemic. As such, people may have been away from the borough for various reasons, and the current population is likely to be higher.
Our largest single ethnic group is Indian (17.3% of the population) followed by White Other (16.2%) and then White British (16.0%), so it follows that Gujarati is the main language (other than English) spoken by 23,500 residents. This is followed by Polish, Arabic, and then Portuguese. These data are from the 2011 Census (we are still waiting for the 2021 Census release) and do not include the Romanians, who came to the borough more recently. There were more applications to the EU Settlement Scheme from Romanians (21,180) in Brent than for any other nationality. As well as Indian and European residents, around 17% of residents were from Black ethnic groups (higher than the London average (13%). Other populations well represented in Brent (compared with other areas in London) include the White Irish (3.4%), Arab (4.7%), and Asian Other (10.5%, this includes Sri Lankan, Afghan, Filipino, Nepalese and Tamil residents) groups. Brent also has Pakistani (4.7%), Chinese (1.2%), and Bangladeshi (0.5%) residents.
Brent residents are more likely to have a religion with only one in ten without a religion. The borough’s three largest religious groups are Christianity (41%), Muslim (19%) and Hindu (18%). The borough has the second largest Hindu population in England and Wales, and is home to Neasden Temple, Europe’s first traditional stone temple.
Around one in seven Brent residents have a long-term health problem or disability that limits their day-to-day activities in some way. The prevalence of disability rises sharply with age; more than half of all residents aged 65 and over had a long-term health problem or disability.
For more information about the population of Brent, see the following profiles:
Key Strategies
Underpinning the borough plan are a number of key strategies:
Poverty Commission
Brent’s Poverty Commission was commissioned in January 2020. It was independently chaired by Lord Best OBE. It included local, regional and national stakeholders and experts in their fields and was both independent of the Council and non-party political.
Based on its analysis of the key causes of poverty in Brent, the Commission’s recommendations focused on the following workstreams:
- Housing
- Economy and Jobs
- Financial Inclusion and Welfare
The Poverty Commission made 40 recommendations which are being implemented through its delivery plan, now in the second year.
The Poverty Commission is available here.
Black Community Action Plan
The Black Community Action Plan (BCAP) was agreed upon the Brent in July 2020; it is designed to address the inequalities that our black communities face.
The Local Community helped to create the plan, which will, among other things, build sustainable communities, with Black leaders playing a role in decision-making, develop community spaces that members of the community will run and manage and conduct an internal review of processes in the council.
More information about the BCAP is available here.
Streamlined Brent Black Community Action Plan can be found here.
Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy
In July 2019 Brent declared a climate and ecological emergency. As a result, Brent held a Climate Assembly to understand the views of its residents and used these to develop the Climate and Ecological Emergency Strategy. The strategy has five key themes:
- Consumption, resources and waste
- Transport
- Homes, Buildings and the Built Environment
- Nature and Green Space
- Supporting Communities.
The full strategy is available here.
Equalities Strategy
The equalities strategy runs from 2019-2023 and is currently being refreshed alongside the borough plan. There are four main objectives in the strategy:
- Understanding the barriers to inequality experienced in Brent and acting to remove them
- Providing accessible information and services
- Tackling hate, harassment, and victimisation
- Leading the way in encouraging diversity to flourish in Brent
The full strategy is available here.
Community Safety Strategy
The Community Safety Partnership is a multi-agency partnership group that oversees the approach to reducing crime and antisocial behaviour in Brent. There are a number of organisations in the partnership, including: Brent Council, MET police, London Fire Brigade, National Probation Service; Community Rehabilitation Company; NHS; CVS; and victim support.
The partnership has three main objectives:
- to protect the most vulnerable individuals – making those most at risk of harm, less vulnerable
- to support the most prolific offenders – identifying needs and supporting change to reduce reoffending
- to strengthen the highest-risk locations – making risky locations safer for residents, tackling environmental crime and using fixed, mobile and deployable CCTV to support operations and delivery of justice outcomes.
The current priorities for the partnership are:
- Violence against women and girls
- Gang-related offending
- Anti-social behaviour
- Reducing reoffending
- Preventing radicalisation
- Child sexual exploitation
These priorities are written into the partnership strategy, which is available here
A new partnership strategy is currently being developed.
