Prevent

The Prevent Strategy is a cross-Government policy that forms one of the four strands of CONTEST: the United Kingdom’s Strategy for Counter Terrorism. It includes the anti-radicalisation of vulnerable adults and children.


CONTEST as a counter-terrorism strategy is organised around four work streams, each comprising a number of key objectives:

  • PURSUE: To stop terrorist attacks;
  • PREVENT: To stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism;
  • PROTECT: To strengthen our protection against a terrorist attack; and
  • PREPARE: To mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack.

Prevent is designed to stop people from supporting terrorism or becoming terrorists themselves. The importance of identifying radicalisation as early as possible continues to be highlighted: when successful, radicalised individuals can be prevented from perpetrating criminal acts which significantly affect their own lives as well as those of their victims and their families and local communities.

Prevent now addresses radicalisation to all forms of terrorism, including the extreme right-wing, for example, and the non-violent, which can popularise views that terrorists exploit. Action to address forms of extremism such as these should be prioritised locally according to the risks faced. To assist in this, though the current Prevent strategy has widened its scope, its focus has been reduced to these key objectives:

  • IDEOLOGIES: To respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat we face from those who promote it;
  • INDIVIDUALS: To prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure that they are given appropriate advice and support; and
  • INSTITUTIONS: To work with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities, the internet and health) where there are risks of radicalisation.

Terrorism is an action or threat designed to influence the government or intimidate the public. Its purpose is to advance a political, religious or ideological cause. The current UK definition of terrorism is given in the Terrorism Act 2006.

In the UK we define terrorism as a violent action that:

  • Endangers a person’s life, other than that of the person committing the action
  • Involves serious violence against a person
  • Causes serious damage to property
  • Creates a serious risk to the public’s health and safety
  • Interferes with or seriously disrupts an electronic system

Prevention means reducing or eliminating the risk of individuals or groups becoming involved in terrorism. Prevent involves the identification and referral of those susceptible to violent extremism into appropriate interventions. These interventions are aimed to stop the vulnerable being radicalised.

Extremists will always target the vulnerable in a bid to spread their firmly held, but flawed, ideologies, but we must tackle them at source and prevent people being brainwashed into terrorism.

Channel is a multi-agency process for identifying, referring and supporting a person at risk of radicalisation, focusing on early intervention and engagement.
Through Channel we aim to:

  • Identify people at risk of being drawn into terrorism
  • Assess the nature and extent of the that risk; and
  • Develop at the most appropriate support plan for the individual or individuals concerned

Participation in Channel is voluntary and can lead to a wide package of support, such as mentoring, life skills, therapies, housing support, and drug and alcohol support. This is delivered by agencies working together from across the children and adult’s workforce, such as local authority, health, education, police, and voluntary and community organisations.

Where the support needs can’t be met through existing mainstream provision locally, the panel can access specialist support, including Channel intervention providers, approved by the Home Office.

Support through Channel may be appropriate for anyone who is vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism.

This includes children or adults of any faith or ethnicity or background. The aim is to reach people before their vulnerabilities are exploited by those who want to them embrace terrorism and they are drawn into committing terrorist-related activity.

Channel is not suitable for anyone who you believe has, or is about to, commit a criminal offence. In this instance you should contact the police for an emergency response.

If you have a concern around someone being radicalised or drawn into terrorism, please visit the Kent County Council website for next steps.

KCC- Report radicalisation or extremism