15.3 PREVENT Strategy
What is Prevent?
The government's Prevent Strategy, originally formed in 2011 and updated in 2018, forms one element of the Counter-terrorism Strategy (CONTEST) and aims to reduce the threat to the UK from terrorism by preventing people from becoming influenced through extreme and radical ideology.
The counter-terrorism strategy is organised around 4 workstreams,
- Prevent: to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism
- Pursue: to stop terrorist attacks
- Protect: to strengthen our protection against a terrorist attack
- Prepare: to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack
The aim of the Prevent Strategy is to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism by focusing on the following three objectives;
- challenging ideology that supports terrorism and those who promote it;
- protecting vulnerable individuals from being drawn into terrorism through appropriate advice and support.
- supporting sectors and institutions where there is a risk of radicalisation.
Prevent recognises that people who are engaged in terrorist activities are often initially drawn into extremist narratives and beliefs and that these narratives (violent and non-violent) should be challenged to stop people moving from extremist groups or from extremism into terrorist related activity.
The Counter Extremism Strategy 2015 defines extremism as; “the vocal or active opposition to our fundamental values, including democracy, the rule of law, individual liberty and the mutual respect of different faiths and beliefs. We also regard calls for the death of our armed forces as extremist.”
Radicalisation is as defined in the Prevent Strategy as “the process by which a person comes to support terrorism and forms of extremism leading to terrorism”
The threat level for the UK is set by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC). Threat levels are designed to give a broad indication of the likelihood of a terrorist attack:
- LOW means an attack is unlikely.
- MODERATE means an attack is possible, but not likely
- SUBSTANTIAL means an attack is a strong possibility
- SEVERE means an attack is highly likely
- CRITICAL means an attack is expected imminently
The Prevent strategy identifies four types of terrorism that the UK faces, these being:
- International, terrorist organisations operating in Syria and Iraq (Da’esh and Al Qa’ida and like-minded organisations).
- Northern-Ireland related
- Extreme right-wing
- Other, these are often small movements in reaction to a single issue, specific incident, or ideology
Contents
- The Prevent Duty - Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015(Jump to)
- Sefton Prevent Multi-Agency Action Plan(Jump to)
- What is Channel?(Jump to)
- Making a Channel / Prevent referral(Jump to)
- Governance and Accountability(Jump to)
- National Documents(Jump to)
- Local Policies(Jump to)
- Appendix(Jump to)
On 1st July 2015, the Counter Terrorism and Security Act (CTSA) 2015 became statutory.
Section 26 of the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 places a statutory Prevent duty on specified authorities in the exercise of their functions, to have ‘due regards to the need to Prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’. See Prevent Duty Guidance
The Sefton Prevent Action Plan is informed by national and local priorities. The action plan is updated regularly by the Sefton Prevent Multi-Agency Group (SPMAG) and is reviewed by the Home Office as part of the annual assurance process. The key themes of the action plan are:
- Effective leadership
To work with partners and local safeguarding boards, ensure that partners are aware of current risks and policies, regularly review.
- Safeguarding
Clear reporting arrangements to adult and children’s safeguarding boards. Regular review of Channel processes. Increased support for relevant sectors, i.e. Education, Adult and Children’s Care teams, Third Sector agencies.
- Engagement / raising awareness
Point of contact for advice and support to all sectors and agencies. Provide engagement and training for Council and partner staff and volunteers, and the wider community. Ensure that relevant guidance is available.
- Training / communications
Develop and deliver training to all relevant staff, volunteers and community groups. Training and awareness sessions for elected members and senior leaders. Work with the regional hub regarding training and activity.
- Online resilience
Raise awareness of the online radicalisation threat. Provide training and awareness to enable people to be aware of propaganda and misinformation
A key part of Prevent is “Channel”. Police work with public bodies, including local councils, social workers, NHS staff, schools and the justice system to identify those at risk of being drawn into terrorism, assess what the risk might be and then develop tailored support for those referred to them. This could range from mentoring to things like anger management or drug and alcohol programmes.
Not everyone referred to Channel will be deemed suitable for the programme. There is a filtering process in case the person isn’t really at risk of radicalisation, and to weed out referrals that are wrong or malicious. The process is about supporting individuals identified as being vulnerable to radicalisation and extremism at an early stage is a key part of Sefton’s approach to Prevent.
The Sefton Channel Panel is fundamental to this and is a voluntary safeguarding programme aimed at supporting those individuals identified as being vulnerable. As with other safeguarding practices Channel is reliant on a multi-agency response and multi-disciplinary work to minimise and manage the risk to an individual. It draws on existing collaboration between local authorities, police, statutory partners and the local community and has three objectives:
- Identify individuals at risk of being radicalisation or drawn into extremism
- Assess the nature and extent of the risk
- Develop the most appropriate support for the individuals concerned.
Anyone can make a Prevent referral if they have concerns.
General Public – To find out more about how to help someone close to you visit actearly.uk which is a helpful resource with advice, practical tips on how to start a conversation with someone you’re worried about, online safety advice and real stories.
If you have concerns about any of your friends, neighbours or relatives, you can contact Sefton Council.
If you are worried about an adult, call 0345 140 0845 to report your concerns.
If you are worried about a child or young person you can call the Sefton Children's Help & Advice Team (CHAT) on 0151 934 4013.
You can also call the national police Prevent advice line 0800 011 3764, in confidence, to share your concerns with specially trained officers.
If it's an emergency, please call 999.
Local Authority– If officers from the local authority receive concerns directly from an individual they are working with, or from a telephone call from the public, or from information received from a partner agency, they will then complete and send the referral form to the Prevent email address prevent@merseyside.pnn.police.uk
Immediate Safeguarding issues should be highlighted to and dealt with by the appropriate professional, following the usual Sefton Council Local Authority process.
Partner agencies – Health, Education, further education etc. should call the CHAT team for concerns about young people or send the referral form (see Appendix B below) to the Prevent email for the Police prevent@merseyside.pnn.police.uk if the concern is about an adult.
All referrals are assessed by Northwest Counter Terrorism Police officers. They decide if the referral is adopted as a multi-agency led case or signposted out to other services or agencies if it does not meet threshold criteria.
If adopted as a multi-agency case information gathering takes place and it will be at this stage that a vulnerability assessment is formulated. The expected turn around to respond to information requests is 5 working days.
The case will then be discussed at a Channel Panel, a multi-agency meeting which will discuss and review the referral, gain consent for engagement and plan any appropriate bespoke support packages to reduce or mitigate vulnerabilities to radicalisation. This Panel meets on a monthly basis to review the progress of the case, until such time as the individual is deemed to be no longer vulnerable to radicalisation or consent is withdrawn.
SEE APPENDIX B (REFERRAL FORM)
More information about Channel can be found at: Channel Duty Guidance
The Safer Sefton Together partnership (SST) oversees Sefton Council’s approach to delivering the Prevent Duty. The Sefton Prevent Multi Agency Group (SPMAG) reports quarterly to the SST and updates on progress from the Action plan and any local information relevant to the Prevent agenda.
The SPMAG risk assessment and action plan are reviewed annually by the Home Office Prevent team and an assurance statement is issued following a benchmarking exercise.
Sefton Channel Panel is reviewed separately by the Home office Channel team and an annual assurance statement is issued following a benchmarking exercise.
This document is aligned with a number of National Acts, Strategies and Policies: -
-
- Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015
- Serious Crime Act 2015
- Modern Slavery Act 2015
- Contest (UK Counter Terrorism Strategy)
- National Prevent Strategy
- Prevent Duty for Specified Authorities
- Channel Duty Guidance 2015