Preventing Terrorism in Shropshire

The aim of Prevent is to reduce the threat to the UK from terrorism by stopping people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Delivery of Prevent is grounded in early intervention and safeguarding.

The UK Government remains absolutely committed to protecting freedom of expression. But preventing terrorism will mean challenging extremist (and non‑violent) ideas that are also part of a terrorist ideology, including instances where there is an interest in extreme violence or mass casualty attacks. Prevent also facilitates interventions to stop people moving from extremist activity to terrorist-related activity.

Prevent addresses all forms of terrorism and we continue to prioritise according to the threat posed to our national security. The allocation of resources will be proportionate to the threats we face. The most significant of these threats is currently from terrorist activity associated with Islamist extremism. Extreme right–wing ideology is a growing threat. Other ideologies are less present, but still have the potential to motivate and/or be used to justify terrorism. The dominance of individuals or small groups acting without direction or material support from an organised terrorist group, the increasing diversity of terrorist groups overseas, and the societal impacts of technological change remain a concern

Prevent has three objectives in CONTEST:

• to tackle the ideological causes of terrorism;
• to intervene early to support people to stop them from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism; and
• to rehabilitate those who have engaged in terrorist activity.

Prevent continues to monitor emerging radicalisation trends and ideologies
to establish whether they represent a terrorism risk or play a role in radicalising people. Practitioners should not only be alert to violent extremism but also non-violent extremism, including certain divisive or intolerant narratives which can be reasonably linked to terrorist ideologies. Information and analysis on extremism and terrorist ideologies is available from the Commission for Countering Extremism.

Section 26 CTSA 2015 places a duty (“the Prevent duty”) on certain bodies in the exercise of their functions to have ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’. Separate guidance has been issued on the Prevent duty.

What is Terrorism?

Terrorism involves committing violent acts for political, religious or ideological reasons.

The acts can be committed as part of an organised group or alone, however it is usually categorised as a group phenomenon.

In the build up to committing these violent acts, people are usually radicalised. Radicalisation is the action or process of causing someone to adopt radical positions on political or social issues.

Vulnerable people, including children, young people and adults with care and support needs, can be exploited by people who seek to involve them in terrorism or activity in support of terrorism.

There is a multi-agency approach, called ‘Channel’, which looks at referrals of people at risk of being drawn into terrorism and decides whether, or not, action needs to be taken to support them to reduce the risk of radicalisation and violent extremism. The Channel process is designed to develop an appropriate support package to safeguard those at risk of being drawn into terrorism, based on an assessment of their vulnerability.

This approach works alongside the existing safeguarding processes to protect people at risk from radicalisation. If the person at risk of being drawn into terrorism is an adult with care and support needs, this should be considered as a safeguarding concern.

If you are a professional or volunteer working with a person who is at risk of being drawn into terrorism and want to know how to refer to the Channel Process, please discuss with your Designated Safeguarding Lead.

If you are the person who is concerned that you are being drawn into terrorism; a family member or carer or a concerned member of the public, please click the “Report a Concern” button at the top of this page.

The Prevent National Referral Form should be completed if you have concerns a young person is being exploited for radicalisation.

There is no single pathway to being radicalised. There are many factors which can, either alone or combined, lead someone to subscribe to extremist ideology, and thereafter be drawn into or become an advocate of terrorism. These 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.

One objective of Prevent is to intervene early to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. This means providing bespoke interventions for people who are susceptible to radicalisation. People might be susceptible to radicalisation due to a number of circumstances, needs, or other underlying factors. It should be noted that there is no single model of a person’s radicalisation journey or single profile of a radicalised person.

A person’s susceptibility to radicalisation may be linked to their specific vulnerabilities. A person can be vulnerable if they are in need of special care, support, or protection because of age, disability, risk of abuse or neglect. In many cases, these factors or characteristics are relevant to their susceptibility to radicalisation and to the early intervention approach that is required to divert them away from radicalisation.

In other cases, such specific vulnerabilities may not be present or be relevant to their general vulnerability, or susceptibility, to being drawn into terrorism or to the early intervention approach required. Not all people susceptible to radicalisation will be a vulnerable person as a result of such factors, and there are other circumstances, needs, or other underlying factors that may make a person susceptible to radicalisation.

There is no single way of identifying who is at risk of being radicalised into terrorism or supporting terrorism. Factors may include:

• peer or family pressure
• influence to support an ideology from other people or via the internet
• bullying
• being a victim or perpetrator of crime
• anti-social behaviour
• family tensions
• hate crime
• lack of self-esteem or identity
• personal or political grievances

Further details on Prevent training can be found on our Learning & Development page.