Minutes:
Fiona Gibbs, the London Borough of Hillingdon's Stronger Communities and Prevent Lead gave a presentation on the Prevent Duty and Counter Terrorism work undertaken by the Council and its partners.
The key points of the presentation included the following:
· The Council had been working on Prevent since 2006/07 when it had become part of the Government's Counter Terrorism Strategy (CONTEST).
· Prevent was one of four elements of CONTEST, the others being Pursue, Protect and Prepare.
· Prevent aimed to stop people from being drawn towards supporting terrorism, to address radicalisation and to respond to the ideological challenges presented.
· The work covered the response to all types of terrorism, from Islamist inspired extremist organisations, to terrorism linked to the far right or domestic terrorism.
· Work was undertaken to safeguard young people and vulnerable adults to stop them from becoming involved in violence or criminal activity.
· The Channel Programme was a multi-agency programme, aimed at supporting vulnerable individuals. It was Home Office sponsored and co-ordinated by SO15 Channel Police officers in partnership with the local authority. Most referrals to the programme were of persons under 25, with the majority of these being aged 15 to 19. A number of risk factors were used in order to assess the likelihood of a young person becoming radicalised or involved in terrorism and therefore, what action should be taken.
· The panel of the Channel Programme met every month. It provided support to individuals and worked closely with the Police and other partners.
· Each local authority was required to develop a prevent action plan which was specific to addressing local concerns.
· The Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 had placed a statutory on local authorities and other organisations, including schools, to work towards the aims of Prevent.
· Progress being made on Prevent activities was regularly reported to the Executive Board of the Local Strategic Partnership.
· The Stronger Communities and Prevent Lead had received Home Office approved training, which enabled her to deliver WRAP workshop training in relation to Prevent. Between 1,500 and 1,600 people had received this training in the last year and it was anticipated that this figure would reach 2,000 by the end of the year.
· Priorities of the Prevent work within Hillingdon included ensuring that opportunities for radical groups to get a foothold were minimised, the support of vulnerable persons and for partners to work together effectively.
· Schools were supported in relation to Prevent, including the importance of teaching of moral values and ethics, building respect, the ability to think critically and guidance on how to use the curriculum.
· School staffwere provided training. This included awareness of Prevent, concerning behaviour to look for amongst their pupils and how to get help if they had any safeguarding concerns.
· Safety online and awareness of online risks were also an important aspect of Prevent work. This included raising pupil awareness of the issues.
· It was recognised that it was important to deal with concerns raised sensitively and to identify where the line was likely to be crossed for ideas to result in criminal activity. A couple of recent examples were highlighted where action had been taken to support children who had been identified at risk of becoming involved in extremist activity.
· Where appropriate, Social Services and mental health providers were involved in identified cases. Mental health issues were associated with a number of individuals who were identified as being at risk of becoming involved in extremist or terrorist activity.
· It was suggested that SACRE could play a role in Prevent by helping to raise awareness of the associated issues. This could be by ensuring that a co-ordinated approach was taken to managing concerns and delivering support and by supporting schools to deliver against the curriculum.
In response to questions from Member of Hillingdon SACRE, it was confirmed that:
· Work was undertaken sensitively and proportionately and this was seen as being very important. There was a need to recognise that people had varying points of view and that concerning views should be challenged.
· Consideration would be given to providing training to other organisations, besides schools, if requested, but it was recognised that resources were limited.
· The Council worked with libraries, leisure centres and the Hayes Carnival, among others, to bring communities together. It was acknowledged that there might be a need to encourage groups with meeting space and event facilities to be more inclusive of other communities.
· The Channel process was voluntary, although there were thresholds for the involvement of statutory services. Anyone supported by the Channel process were fully aware of their involvement in it. It was necessary to manage the channel process sensitively to minimise any resentment and to reassure that this is a supportive process, centred on the needs of the individual.
· Schools were encouraged to make use of their own resources and safeguarding approach in the first instance. Support was most commonly provided directly by the school, with the Council being available to provide support and to help to determine what action should be taken.
· The existence of fraudulent charities was a cause for concern. Those giving to charities were advised to exercise caution and to check whether they knew what the money was being used for and whether there was any risk that it could be funding terrorism. Members were informed that there had been some fraudulent charity collecting by people purporting to be collecting on behalf of Hayes Mosque. This had been reported to the relevant authorities.
Resolved: That:
1. Fiona Gibbs to explore how the link between the Hillingdon SACRE and local schools could be strengthened.
2. The update provided be noted.