North Yorkshire Community Safety Partnership –
Local Prevent Arrangements
September 2024
1.0 PURPOSE OF THIS REPORT
1.1 To update on the partnership working around the priority areas agreed by North Yorkshire Community Safety Partnership (NYCSP). Following feedback from the last update to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee (March 2024), this report aims to provide detail regarding local Prevent arrangements for North Yorkshire.
1.2 NYCSP is currently reviewing its areas of priority and delivery. Below indicates the proposals for the new Community Safety Strategy, to be agreed by the NYCSP on the 20 September 2024, all of the proposed priorities include statutory duties:
· Community Safety Hubs – Dealing with crime, fear of crime, anti-social behaviour, community tensions and creating safer communities through multi-agency problem solving approaches.
· Preventing and reducing serious violence across North Yorkshire – Effective partnership working in understanding and responding to serious violence, including the implementation of the serious violence duty.
· Domestic abuse – As a partnership to continue to deliver
North Yorkshire and City of York Domestic Abuse Strategy 2024-2028 (nypartnerships.org.uk). This includes a multi-agency approach to raise awareness of domestic abuse, whilst engaging with our communities and partners. Effectively commissioning and promoting services that are available to prevent, support and protect all that are impacted.
· Stand together to tackle hate crime, radicalisation, and extremism– The Prevent duty aims to stop people from becoming terrorists and supporting terrorism, and community cohesion plays a vital role in this by fostering strong, positive relationships between people from different backgrounds. Through multi-agency delivery partners will work together, building relationships and encouraging interaction with communities, to reduce marginalisation and isolation, and strengthen arrangements to support vulnerable people and communities.
2.0 PREVENT
2.1 The overall aim of the counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST, is to reduce the risk from terrorism to the UK, its citizens, and interests overseas, so that people can go about their lives freely and with confidence.
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
2.2 Terrorism has a devastating impact on victims, their families, and communities. People can commit a terrorist offence even if they have not carried out a terrorist attack. Downloading terrorist materials from the internet or joining a terrorist group could be a terrorist offence. A clear distinction should be made between people who present with a ‘terrorism susceptibility’ (Prevent), requiring Channel support and those who pose a ‘terrorism risk’ (Pursue), requiring management by the Police.
2.3 The aim of Prevent is to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Prevent also extends to supporting the rehabilitation and disengagement of those already involved in terrorism. The objectives of Prevent are to:
· Tackle the ideological causes of terrorism.
· Intervene early to support people susceptible to radicalisation.
· Enable people who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate.
2.4 The Prevent duty requires specified authorities such as education, health, local authorities, Police, and criminal justice agencies (prisons and probation) to help prevent the risk of people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It sits alongside long-established safeguarding duties on professionals to protect people from a range of other harms, such as substance use, involvement in gangs, and physical and sexual exploitation. The duty aims to ensure that people who are susceptible to radicalisation are supported as they would be under safeguarding processes.
2.5 Prevent deals with all kinds of terrorist threats to the UK. The Prevent statutory guidance Prevent duty guidance: England and Wales (2023) - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk) states “The ideological component of terrorism is what sets it apart from other acts of serious violence. Islamist ideology is resilient and enduring. Extreme Right-Wing ideology is resurgent. Other ideologies are less present, but still have the potential to motivate, inspire and be used to justify terrorism.”
2.6 Radicalisation is the process of a person legitimising support for, or use of, terrorist violence. The guidance explains “There is no single profile of a radicalised person, nor is there a single pathway or ‘conveyor belt’ to being radicalised. There are many factors which can, either alone or combined, lead someone to subscribe to terrorist or terrorism-supporting ideology. Those factors often include exposure to radicalising influences, real and perceived grievances, often created or exacerbated through grievance narratives espoused by extremists, and a person’s own susceptibility.”
2.7 Radicalisation can happen both in person and online. Everyone is different, and there is no checklist that can tell us if someone is radicalised or becoming involved in terrorism. But these signs may mean someone is being radicalised.
· Accessing extremist content online or downloading propaganda material.
· Justifying the use of violence to solve societal issues.
· Altering their style of dress or appearance to accord with an extremist group.
· Being unwilling to engage with people who they see as different.
· Using certain symbols associated with terrorist organisations.
3.0 PREVENT REFERRALS AND CHANNEL PANEL
3.1 The second objective of Prevent is to intervene early to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. The ‘notice, check and share’ approach is encouraged for those professionals when considering a Prevent referral:
NOTICE Those who work in front line support roles will often be the first to notice if someone displays concerning behaviour, displaying potential signs of radicalisation. There could be different reasons for a change in behaviour, not just radicalisation. It is important that professionals understand the wider context, and why these changes are happening, before jumping to any conclusions.
CHECK Professionals may wish to discuss concerns within their organisation, with their designated safeguarding lead. Checking is important to ensure relevant information has been gathered.
SHARE Referral procedures to be followed.
3.2 Once a referral is submitted to Prevent, it is assessed by specialist Police officers and staff. These officers determine whether there are reasonable grounds to suspect that a person is susceptible to becoming a terrorist or supporting terrorism and should therefore be considered by the Channel panel for support.
3.3 Annually in December the Home Office publishes statistics regarding the individuals referred to Prevent, the last release refers to 1 April 2022 to 31 March 2023 Individuals referred to Prevent: to March 2023 - GOV.UK (www.gov.uk). For England and Wales there were 6,817 referrals to Prevent. The Education sector made the highest number of referrals, 2,684 (39%), followed by the Police 1,943 (29%). As in previous years, where gender was specified (6,801), most referrals were for males 6,125 (90%). Those aged between 11-15 years account for 2,628 (39%) of referrals where aged is specified. Nearly half (46%) of referrals that became adopted cases were for individuals aged between 11-15 years. These national demographics of age and gender are represented in local statistics with the education sector being the largest source of referral.
3.4 Channel panels are chaired by the local authority, and attended by multi-agency partners such as Police, education professionals, health services, children, and adult services. They meet to discuss the referral, assess the risk, and, if appropriate, agree a tailored package of support to be offered to the person. Channel is a voluntary process, and the person must give their consent before they receive support. Channel provides early support for anyone who is at risk of radicalisation, supporting terrorist organisations, or committing acts of terrorism, regardless of age, faith, ethnicity, or background.
3.5 Where consent is secured, the panel will develop a support plan and provide support interventions to reflect both need and risk. There is clear expectation that Channel cases remain open until:
· The panel deems that terrorism susceptibility has sufficiently reduced to warrant exit, or
· The terrorism risk has increased, and the case is escalated to the police for consideration, or
· Consent to access support is not secured or is withdrawn.
3.6 The type of activities that are included in a support package will depend on risk factors, vulnerabilities, and local resource. For example, a diversionary activity with lower-level support may be sufficient for someone who is in the early stages of radicalisation. The following kinds of support might be considered appropriate:
· Theological/ideological support – structured sessions using a Home Office approved Intervention Provider, to understand, assess or challenge ideological, theological, or fixated thinking.
· Constructive pursuits – supervised or managed constructive leisure activities.
· Education skills – activities focused on education or training.
· Careers contact – activities focused on employment.
· Family support contact – activities aimed at supporting family and personal relationships, including formal parenting programmes.
· Health awareness contact – work aimed at assessing or addressing any physical or mental health issues.
· Housing support contact – activities addressing living arrangements, accommodation provision.
· Drugs and alcohol awareness – substance use interventions.
· Mentoring – work with a suitable adult as a role model to provide personal guidance or pastoral care.
3.7 With regards to ideological support, Intervention Providers are theological and ideological specialists. They are experienced in assessing ideological drivers, possess a high level of understanding around radicalising extremist narratives, and have the ability to counter them. They receive comprehensive training to support their roles through the Intervention Provider professionalisation programme. Intervention Providers are also subject to a rigorous recruitment process and must receive ministerial approval to work on the programme.
3.8 Where Channel is not considered suitable, alternative options will be explored. Where consent has not been given or the level of risk makes it unsuitable, the person can be considered for Police-led Partnerships (PLPs). PLPs are led by the Police but work in partnership with other agencies and employ many of the same type of approaches used within the multi-agency process of Channel.
3.9 After an individual has left the Channel programme, their progress will be reviewed 6 and 12 months as a minimum. If the individual shows further radicalisation related concerns, they can re-enter the Channel programme and receive further support.
3.10 Our cohort of cases tends to be young males (14–18-year-olds), with extreme right and mixed and unclear ideologies. Most cases within the local Channel space are linked to online activity, including the use of Discord, Telegram and 4chan.
Below is a summary of a local case.
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North Yorkshire Channel Panel has in recent months managed a Channel case whereby a referral was made from a school, following concerns over one of their students. A 15-year-old student was found in school wearing a German army uniform, displaying a swastika, making a Nazi salute, and shouting ‘Heil Hitler’. The student admitted to accessing videos which contained extremist ideologies, such as Holocaust denial and they spoke about their attraction to Far-Right ideology. The individual was in contact with another young person, elsewhere in the country, showing the reach of the online space. The student shared similar Far-Right beliefs; and the two of them regularly exchanged violent, transphobic, and racist views with each other, before going on to share those with a cohort of pupils from their respective schools within a WhatsApp group. Following the support, which was provided through Channel, Home Office approved Intervention Providers have completed multiple sessions with the two main protagonists, resulting in them having a better understanding of the world and societal values, which has in turn reduced the risk of radicalisation. Locally using Channel as the mechanism to manage this, North Yorkshire Police School Officers, and North Yorkshire Youth via the ‘Wake Up Call’ intervention, have delivered session to a cohort of pupils within the school, including a focus on hate crime and antisemitism. |
4.0 PREVENT PARTNERSHIP ARRANGEMENTS IN NORTH YORKSHIRE
4.1 Prevent statutory guidance states that local authorities are required to have multi-agency arrangements in place to effectively monitor and evaluate the impact of Prevent work and provide strategic governance. A strategic Prevent Partnership Board has been established for North Yorkshire and York, and is chaired by Rachel Joyce, Assistant Chief Executive – Local Engagement, North Yorkshire Council. The guidance adds “Local authorities should make use of their local multi-agency group(s) to agree risk, co-ordinate Prevent activity, and offer support and advice.”
4.2 Local Prevent Groups for central, eastern, and western locality areas are currently being formed and the first meetings will start late September and will meet on a quarterly basis. Membership covers a good cross section of organisations and standard agenda item for each group will include community engagement, activity, community tension monitoring, training offers and communication (local and national). Situational Risk Assessments are also being developed for each of the areas, which will support the development of the local action plans and identify actions to mitigate any risks identified. These groups will report directly into the York and North Yorkshire Prevent Partnership Board.
4.3 On an annual basis local Prevent arrangements are assessed and benchmarked against eight areas:
· Multi-agency partnership group
· Local assessment process
· Partnership plan
· Referral pathway
· Training programme
· Reducing permissive environments
· Communications and engagement
4.4 The assurance process for May 2024 identified “Overall Prevent delivery in North Yorkshire is good and meets the requirements of Prevent duty in every area with one exception, there is no situational risk assessment.” This will be rectified via the establishment of local Prevent groups.
National and local guidance and support is aimed at both professionals and communities, including concerned families and friends.
Act Early ACT Early | Prevent radicalisation is aimed at the public, including concerned families and friends.
Educate Against Hate - Prevent Radicalisation & Extremism offers a wide range of information and support for education settings.
Local guidance and support, including information regarding training opportunities, is found via Prevent | North Yorkshire Partnerships (nypartnerships.org.uk)
5.0 HATE CRIME AND COMMUNITY COHESION
5.1 It is recognised that a ‘golden thread’ links community cohesion, tensions, hate crime and individuals that may be susceptible to radicalisation and terrorism.
5.2 An Inclusive Communities Joint Coordination Group reviews hate crime and incidents across North Yorkshire and York, this group reports directly to NYCSP and Safer York Partnership.
Current agreed multi-agency objectives for this group include:
· Partnership development – to scope and develop a joint Hate Crime and Community Cohesion Strategy for North Yorkshire and York. This work has started but requires wider partners engagement and development.
· Multi-agency training – to increase awareness and address emerging themes.
· Communications – continue to support and deliver on the joint partnerships ‘calendar of activity’ (across the Community Safety Partnership, Safeguarding Children Partnership and Safeguarding Adults Board).
· Community engagement – build the trust and confidence to recognise and report hate crime through promotion and education.
· Funding opportunities – to identify and explore funding opportunities to increase understanding and awareness of hate crime through supporting positive engagement with communities and professionals.
5.3 On behalf of the Inclusive Communities Joint Coordinating Group, a time limited multi-agency task and finish group has been formed to coordinate and plan for Hate Crime Awareness Week (12-19 October). This will build on previous weeks of activity and will include face-to-face sessions and online webinars covering a range of topics, including, misogyny, cultural awareness, hate crime awareness and local community engagement events across localities supported by the Community Safety Hubs. As part of the multi-agency hate crime training offer, a hate crime champion accredited scheme is being developed.
5.4 The Senior Development Officer within the Community Safety service that leads on this agenda is co-located within the Hate Crime Team, North Yorkshire Police, one day per week.
Community Safety Hubs – there are seven Hubs across North Yorkshire, currently on previous district/borough council boundaries. The Hubs are the key operational delivery arm of community safety, and within all the Hubs there is co-location of local authority and Police officers. The Hubs co-ordinate the operational response to local community safety issues, e.g. anti-social behaviour, community tensions, through multi-agency problem solving approaches.
Multi-Agency Training – a comprehensive Prevent and hate crime training offer exists for partners. Further work is being undertaken to enhance this offer across the multi-agency workforce and directly with communities. This offer includes training on Prevent, hate crime and local risks (far right extremism, incel sub-culture, online risks). Training modules have included a focus on media literacy, the ability to identify different types of media and understand the messages they’re sending. Joint training is delivered by North Yorkshire Council and North Yorkshire Police.
6.0 RECOMMENDATIONS
6.1 For members to consider the content of the report and to identify any areas for clarity and potential future action.
6.2 For members to identify partnership priorities and duties, that can be a focus for future updates and reports to the committee.