Intelligence and Security Committee Report: Extreme Right-Wing Terrorism/Annex B: Prevent

by the Intelligence and Security Committee of Parliament

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ANNEX B: PREVENT

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Prevent strand

310. The aim of the Prevent strand of CONTEST is to safeguard and support vulnerable individuals to stop them becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Individuals are referred by the police, prisons, healthcare and education practitioners, as well as the public. Referrals are assessed by Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) and a multi-agency panel to consider risk and, where appropriate, develop a support package (for example, this might include providing mental health support or assistance in finding employment). Within Prevent, the Channel programme is a voluntary, confidential programme, supporting those most at risk of radicalisation. Prevent referrals to the Channel programme from police and prisons, healthcare and education practitioners, and the public are assessed by CTP and by a multi-agency panel to consider risk, and where appropriate develop a support package. The majority of Prevent referrals for both Right-Wing Extremism and Islamist extremism come from education and the police.^[1]

311. The process for individuals referred to Prevent, and subsequently assessed and supported by Channel, is ideology-agnostic. At the time of Prevent's inception, the focus was primarily on Islamist extremism. In the six-year period between 2012 and 2018, there has been an increase in the number being referred to the Channel programme for Extreme Right-Wing (XRW) concerns, as illustrated in the graph below:^[2]

As already detailed in the earlier 'Prevent strand' section of the Report, there is no correlation between the number of individuals referred to the Prevent programme, and the number of individuals who are Subjects of Interest (SOIs) and on the radar of the counter-terrorism community.

312. Data from 2019/20 (ending in March 2020) shows that a total of 6,738 individuals were subject to a Prevent referral due to concerns that they were vulnerable to radicalisation. Out of this total, 1,387 were referred for concerns relating to Right-Wing Extremism, compared to 1,487 individuals who were referred for concerns relating to Islamist extremism.^[3]

313. Data from 2020/2021 (ending in March 2021) showed that a total of 7,000 people had been referred to Prevent. Out of this total, 1,680 were referred due to concerns about Islamist extremism and 1,540 were referred due to concerns about Right-Wing Extremism.^[4]

314. Of those referred, many people who come into 'the system' are not suitable for intervention (from the Prevent programme) as they may already be on another intervention programme. In 2020/2021, of the 7,000 referred, just under 700 were formally adopted into the Prevent programme. The Home Office told the Committee that more Intervention Providers with specific expertise in the Extreme Right Wing are being recruited to handle the increased number of referrals.^[5]

Prevent initiatives on ERWT

Homeland Security Group has provided Channel panels and Intervention Providers with bespoke training regarding the XRW threat. This includes:

• A four-day 'Extremist Narratives' course on both Islamist and ERWT, which launched in May 2019. So far, 26 Channel Intervention Providers and 11 Desistance and Disengagement Programme Intervention Providers have attended this course.
• A one-day workshop on 'Right-Wing Extremist Narratives' for Channel panel chairs and a one-day workshop on ‘Understanding Radicalisation' for all Channel panel members.
• A communications campaign involved working with the Hollyoaks production team who were covering an XRW story-line, incorporating a Prevent referral. Counter Terrorism Policing Headquarters (CTPHQ) and a Channel Intervention Provider worked closely with the production team to ensure accuracy and also to promote Prevent. CTPHQ have provided schools with lesson plans focused around XRW.
• Counter Terrorism Local Profiles (CTLPS), created from intelligence-reporting, terrorism-related arrests and Prevent referrals detail the Far-Right threat at a local level. These profiles are used by local authorities, local policing, force contest boards and other partners to determine the Prevent response.^[6]

Cross-Government

315. The role of other parts of Government would appear to be key to the successful delivery of Prevent—not least the Department for Education and the Department of Health and Social Care (a number of those who have been convicted of ERWT offences, for example, suffer from mental health problems). Homeland Security Group told the Committee that:

In developing our CT approach since 2015, HMG have been investing in a multi-agency approach at the national and local level. This approach recognises the complex needs and vulnerabilities of those at risk of being drawn into terrorism and extremism. It also acknowledges that, increasingly, data and information of relevance to CT is held by a wide range of departments and agencies, including non-traditional CT partners. When necessary and proportionate, OSCT [Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism]', CTP and MI5 look to engage other parts of HMG, sharing data and information and building a joint approach.^[7]

316. The Director General for Homeland Security Group confirmed that Departments across Government are "represented in all of the conversations we have . . . [and are] actually seeing the wider strategic context of everything we are doing".^[8] She assured the Committee that central teams in Homeland Security Group and the Prevent team are working closely with the Department of Health and Social Care and the Department for Education and others on joint programmes.^[9] The Home Secretary was confident that this multi-agency approach was proving particularly effective in countering XRW behaviours, telling the Committee:

When you look at the associations, the age range and age profile quite frankly of individuals that are now being caught up, youngsters, children, there are all sorts of elements now about social services, education, we're now able to join that up in a much better way.^[10]

Overdue for review

317. The Prevent programme - which has always been contentious—was supposed to have been reviewed in 2019:

• On 12 February 2019, Royal Assent was given to the Counter Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, which included a commitment to undertake an independent review of Prevent.
• On 12 August 2019, the Government announced that Lord Carlile of Berriew had been appointed as the Independent Reviewer of Prevent.
• In October 2019, Human Rights Watch UK challenged the appointment of Lord Carlile and the terms of reference of the review.^[11]
• On 19 December 2019, the Home Office confirmed that it would not be contesting the legal challenge, and Lord Carlile's role as the Independent Reviewer was terminated.

318. As a consequence, the review did not begin until January 2021. Homeland Security Group advised the Committee that it would be finalised by September 2021, and emphasised that "the delays were very much not of government's making, they were very much of those who are never positive about Prevent making legal challenges".^[12]

The Counter-Extremism Strategy

319. The 2015 Counter-Extremism Strategy was launched by the Home Office in a bid to address the harms of extremism beyond terrorism, both "violent and non-violent; Islamist and neo-Nazi". In 2019, the Home Secretary announced a new '2020 Counter Extremism Strategy', in which tackling XRW was to be a priority. At the time of writing, this new strategy has yet to be launched. The Financial Times reported on 11 October 2020 that "One government insider said the Home Office's counter-extremism unit was to be scrapped" and that "staff in the unit had been asked to draw up proposals to fold it into a new programme focused on hateful behaviour, or absorb it into the counter-terrorism work".^[13]

320. The Commission for Countering Extremism told the Committee: "We believe current Counter Extremism strategies are weak, slow, disjointed and outdated. While we have a well developed counter-terrorism machinery, one of the best in the world, we lack a similar machinery or infrastructure for counter extremism".^[14]

We questioned the Home Office as to what was happening with regard to the review—the Home Office advised that it is still under consideration:

We are considering the best way to tackle extremism in future, and this includes considering whether a separate counter extremism strategy is the best way forward or to what extent it is better to incorporate this work into CONTEST. An important part of this work is how we respond to the Extreme Right-Wing and ensuring this is fully tied in with other work that is being done under CONTEST.^[15]

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1. Written evidence - Home Office, 27 May 2021.
2. Written evidence - Home Office, 31 January 2020.
3. Written evidence - Homeland Security Group, 28 May 2021.
4. Oral evidence - Home Office, 29 April 2021.
5. Oral evidence - Home Office, 29 April 2021.
6. Written evidence - Home Office, 31 January 2020.
7. Written evidence - Home Office, 31 January 2020.
8. Oral evidence - Home Office, 29 April 2021.
9. Oral evidence - Home Office, 29 April 2021.
10. Oral evidence - Home Secretary, 20 May 2021.
11. Human Rights Watch UK contested the appointment of Lord Carlile on the grounds that he could not be truly independent as he had overseen the Government's first review of Prevent in 2011, and had also sat on the Prevent oversight board.
12. Oral evidence - Home Office, 20 May 2021.
13. 'Britain to overhaul its counter-extremism strategy', Financial Times, 11 October 2020.
14. Written evidence - Commission for Countering Extremism, 17 December 2020.
15. Written evidence - Home Office, 27 May 2021.