Recommendation 8

HM Government · verbatim extract Acknowledged

This guidance clearly sets out that, while ideology is an important consideration, it is not mandatory for a Prevent referral. Prevent is an early intervention programme, that must consider when someone is at risk of being radicalised to terrorism, rather than limiting Prevent to cases where a terrorist ideology has already taken hold. The Home Office agrees that extremism is increasingly characterised by fluid or hybrid ideological frameworks. There is no single pathway to becoming an “extremist”. Journeys into engaging with extremism are convoluted, unique for each individual, and not generalisable. Engagement with extremism is also not fixed, people can move in and out of engagement and may never act on their beliefs, some factors can exacerbate the risk of engagement with extremism. We know that extremism can lead to a variety of harms across society. It can undermine people’s rights and freedoms, incite hatred, increase societal tensions, and create a fertile ground for radicalisation to terrorism. Prevent deals with people who are at risk of being drawn into terrorism. In 2019, a letter was issued jointly by the Home Office and Counter-Terrorism Policing to confirm that people with ‘school massacre ideation’ or with ‘mixed unclear unstable’ ideologies, should be considered for Prevent. In the published Prevent statistics for year ending March 2022, Home Office analysts improved the way in which a referral’s type of concern is presented. Previously referrals were grouped into one of four categories: Islamist, Extreme Right Wing, Mixed, Unstable and Unclear, and Other. From the publication date ending March 2022 the ‘Mixed, Unstable and Unclear’ category was disaggregated into its component sub-categories to provide a more granular view of types of concern. In May 2024, the ‘type of concern’ categories were updated to better reflect the nature of cases referred into Prevent. These new categories include: • Multiple ideologies (no dominant ideology) • No ideology identified • No ideology – other susceptibility to radicalisation identified • Fascination with extreme violence and mass casualty attacks (where no other ideology). Home Office analysts hold significant expertise in the field of Counter-Terrorism, and include academic researchers, intelligence analysts, extremism analysts and policy professionals. Home Office analysis includes assessment of the online space which includes topics or media that terrorist and extremist groups are seeking to exploit. This also involves hybridised and conflicted ideological belief systems, such as the Com network, incels and school massacre fandoms. A new Prevent Case Management System was launched in May 2024 which means we can now record better data on mental health and neurodiversity where people are referred to Prevent. This is new data for Prevent, and we expect the quality of the data will improve over time. We will carefully analyse trends, working with the Department of Health and Social Care (DHSC), to further improve our reporting practices here. We have undertaken a strategic policy review of mental health and neurodiversity within Prevent to strengthen how we support and manage individuals with mental ill-health or who are neurodivergent. We continue to work to ensure that Prevent keeps pace with the increasingly complex and evolving terrorist threat to stop people from being drawn into terrorism. This includes working closely with DHSC to better connect the counter-terrorism system with expertise in healthcare. Health practitioners are already embedded within Prevent; Schedule 7 of the CounterTerrorism and Security Act 2015 identify health bodies as statutory partners who participate in local Channel panels, contributing a vital healthcare perceptive. We are also looking at a broader range of interventions available through Prevent in response to the increased complexity of the threat. This includes piloting a service that provides specialist psychological advice to Intervention Providers, helping them to better support individuals with mental illhealth or who are neurodivergent. We have also commissioned research in collaboration with Counter-Terrorism Policing’s Clinical Consultancy Service to improve our understanding of the complex relationships between mental health, neurodiversity and radicalisation, as well as how best to support people with mental ill-health or who are neurodivergent. Prevent is clear that mental health and neurodiversity should be considered as contextual factors, which may—or may not—affect a person’s radicalisation risk. Risk needs to be assessed on an individual basis. The delivery of the ‘Key Principles of Prevent’ earlier this year bolsters existing guidance for practitioners on the considerations around mental ill-health, neurodiversity, and Prevent.