Parliamentary activity

Answering body: Home Office

Government published the report 'Lessons for Prevent' from the Interim Independent Prevent Commissioner on 16 July, in which Lord Anderson set out his view that the perpetrator's engagement with Prevent prior to the attack on Sir David Amess has been fully explored. The Government will act immediately on Lord Anderson's findings, building on the work that has already been completed following the Home Secretary's statement on Prevent reform in December 2024.

Currently, there is no evidence of the perpetrator having any contact with the state in a way that would have alerted authorities to his radicalisation or intent in the intervening years between his time on Prevent and his attack on Sir David. However, this intervening period does merit further exploration, so the Home Secretary has confirmed we will appoint a senior figure to scrutinise all the previous reviews that have taken place. We will act as necessary if any gaps are identified as a result of that process.

Answering body: Home Office

Significant improvements have been made to Prevent over the last few years and a further package of work to strengthen Prevent was announced by the Home Secretary in December 2024. New reforms include the creation for the first time of an independent Prevent Commissioner role. This dedicated permanent oversight function will provide continuous independent scrutiny of Prevent legislation, policy and delivery to maximise Prevent’s effectiveness. To begin this work swiftly, Lord David Anderson KC was announced as the interim Commissioner on 21 January.

In relation to the cases raised by the Rt Hon member, we have published the Prevent Learning Reviews into each case and tasked Lord Anderson with conducting a rapid review of both cases. Lord Anderson will identify whether there is further learning regarding the specific handling of each case; examine improvements made to Prevent since each case and determine whether they have sufficiently strengthened the Prevent system; and identify any remaining gaps or shortcomings that require further improvement. This review will be published and swift action will be taken to implement the findings.

The Home Secretary has already announced a public inquiry into the Southport attack. We are moving swiftly to set up the inquiry and we expect to announce further details later this month, after consultation with families and others most affected.