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Prevent – Support for people at risk of radicalisation

Information, resources, and local guidance on referrals for Prevent within the East Riding of Yorkshire.

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What is Prevent?

Prevent is a safety net against radicalisation. It aims to intervene early, to stop people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. Prevent is delivered at a local level by experts who understand the risks in their communities. Partners include local authorities, police, education, health, probation services, the Department for Work and Pensions and Voluntary and Community groups.

For people who are susceptible to radicalisation, prevent can provide personalised interventions to help them move away from dangerous ideologies.

The below animation film illustrates how public sectors under the Prevent duty work together to stop radicalisation. ‘Adam’ tells his story of how he started to become radicalised online. The animation then describes how frontline professionals in contact with Adam notice, check and share the signs of radicalisation, referring Adam to Prevent to then receive support through the Channel programme.

More information on the Goverment's Prevent Duty Guidance (external website)

What is radicalisation?

Radicalisation can happen when a person develops extreme views or beliefs that support terrorist groups or activities.

There are many ways that a person could become radicalised, and people can become exposed to radicalising influences in-person, or online.

A person’s susceptibility to radicalisation may be linked to their vulnerability. A person can be vulnerable if they need special care, support or protection because of age, disability, risk of abuse, or neglect.

What are some of the signs of radicalisation to look out for?

Signs and vulnerabilities

There is no single route to radicalisation, however, there are certain behaviours you can watch out for that we often see when someone is being led down the path of extremism.

Some of these behaviours and vulnerabilities can make a person more at risk of being exploited.

Identifying them doesn't necessarily mean someone is being radicalised.

There can be other explanations behind the behaviours you are seeing. If you are worried, then it is important to reach out for help to discuss your concerns.

These signs and vulnerabilities are not listed in any order of importance:

Being influenced or controlled by a group
Demonstrating a need for identity, meaning and belonging
An obsessive or angry desire for change or ‘something to be done’
Spending an increasing amount of time online and sharing extreme view on social media
Personal crisis
Looking to blame others
Desire for status of a need to dominate.

What could make a child or young person susceptible to radicalisation?

There are many reasons that can make a young person vulnerable to exploitation by extremists. This includes having a low self-esteem or a lack of belonging, or if they have been the victim of bullying or discrimination, which has left them feeling isolated.

Radicalisation can take place online, or face to face by someone they know including friends and family, or by contact with extremist groups. Sometimes curiosity can lead children, teenagers, and younger adults to seek out the groups themselves, or research information they feel supports their views.

Some of the key signs to watch for are below:

Are they becoming increasingly isolated from family and friends?
Do you feel like they are talking as if from a script?
Are they unwilling to engage with you about their views?
Are they becoming intolerant of other people's views?
Are they becoming increasingly angry about issues or events they feel are unfair or unjust?
Are they being secretive about who they are meeting online or in person?

In most cases these signs won’t be linked to radicalisation and there will be other explanations for a person’s behaviour.

If safe to do so, talk to them to find out what could be causing them to react in this way.

Don’t ignore behaviours you are concerned about.

How do I make a Prevent referral?

Members of the public

If you're worried about someone being drawn into terrorism, you can:

follow the guidance on the ACT Early website
call the ACT Early Support Line in confidence, to share your concerns with their specially trained officers – Tel: 0800 011 3764 (open 24/7)
Please note: this phoneline is for the public, friends and family that may be worried about someone close to them.
contact the local Police Prevent Team by ringing 101
call the Anti-Terrorist Hotline (reports can be anonymous) on 0800 789 321

In an emergency where your own or others' safety is at risk, call 999.

Statutory Partners and local authority staff

The East Riding operates a dual referral pathway which means that completed referrals come into Counter Terrorism Policing North East and East Riding of Yorkshire Council.

While the police are duty bound to assess the Prevent referral the Local Authority can check the referral to identify any early support needs required. The Local Authority can work with police to support the assessment process and ensure the best outcome for the individual.

Statutory partners should

follow the Notice, Check, Share procedure (see below)
seek advice regarding any concerns from their designated safeguarding lead, a Prevent champion or their Prevent lead.
complete the National Prevent Referral Form (available to download below) in all cases where a decision to refer is made and submit to the email address' included on the form.

National Prevent Referral Form (pdf 301kb)

If your worry relates to a child (a person under 18 years of age) also email details to safeguardingchildrenshub@eastriding.gov.uk.

Advice can also be sought from the Prevent lead at prevent@eastriding.gov.uk. Wherever possible we aim to give you feedback on your referral. Please note: this is not always possible due to data protection considerations and other sensitivities.

Prevent - Referrals best practice

When dealing with an individual who you suspect may be susceptible to radicalisation there is a proven 3-step safeguarding procedure for assessing and handling concerns in relation to radicalisation - ‘Notice, Check & Share’.

NOTICE the change in behaviour, use of language or other Prevent related concerns.
CHECK your concern with the individual (if safe to do so) or other responsible person, if appropriate, to gather more context and/or your line manager and if needed.
SHARE your concerns with us by following your organisations Prevent referral process - remembering to submit as much detail as possible taking note of the prompts on the referral form to allow us to make an accurate assessment.

What is Channel Panel?

Channel is a multi-agency approach to identify and provide support to individuals who are susceptible to radicalisation. It focuses on all forms of extremism and adopts an early intervention and prevention approach.

Channel uses existing collaboration between local authorities, statutory partners (e.g. Adult and Children’s Services, Education, Health, Department for Work and Pensions, Police and the Probation) Service to:

identify individuals at risk of being drawn into terrorism
assess the nature and extent of that risk
develop a tailored support plan for the individuals concerned.

Channel is a voluntary process and individuals referred will need to give their consent before any support can be put in place.

Across the East Riding, Channel has been embedded into our existing Adults and Children’s safeguarding policies and procedures and is delivered in line with the principles of Working Together to Safeguard Children, the Care Act 2014 and Making Safeguarding Personal.

The Home Office has issued the Channel Duty Guidance for partners on Channel requirements:

GOV.UK - Channel and Prevent Multi-Agency Panel (PMAP) guidance (external website)

Training, resources and contact

The Home Office offer free Prevent training on their website via three eLearning packages:

Prevent awareness

Website: elearning.prevent.homeoffice.gov.uk

This offers an introduction to the Prevent duty and explains how it aims to safeguard vulnerable people from being radicalised to supporting terrorism or becoming terrorists themselves.

Prevent referrals  

Website: elearning.prevent.homeoffice.gov.uk/preventreferrals

This training is designed to make sure that when a concern is shared about a vulnerable individual that may be being radicalised that the referral is robust, informed and with good intention.

Channel Awareness  

Website: elearning.prevent.homeoffice.gov.uk/channelawareness

This offers an introduction to the Channel process outlining the objectives of the Channel programme, the working process, roles and responsibilities and sharing key learning and best practice.

Act Early

The Act Early website offers a range of information and resources to professionals, community groups and families on how to identify the signs and support people who are susceptible to radicalisation.

Educate Against Hate

For additional information for parents, professionals and others on Prevent and Internet Safety can be found through the Educate Against Hate website. The purpose of this website is to provide practical advice, support, and resources to protect children from extremism and radicalisation.

Printed Prevent posters

If you would like Printed Prevent posters in A3 and A4 for your setting, or any further information, advice or resources please email prevent@eastriding.gov.uk.

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0:00 Exploring the context around why you feel there's a concern is a first base step. 0:06 Actually, think about what it is you're worried about and then be really clear about that. 0:11 Never assume that someone's going to be able to find the information themselves. 0:16 Always assume that you need to provide it. 0:22 If you're going to share a concern, what you need to include are the basic things that people forget: 0:29 What's their full name? What's their date of birth? What's their family life like? 0:31 So that someone else who's never met that person, who doesn't know anything about them or their family, can look at it and go, do I think this is a risk or not? 0:41 Sometimes people who come across this practice issue for the first time, treat it a bit like a hot potato, so they worry about holding onto it. So they think, "I've got to get rid of this hot potato, let's just send off an email and refer". 0:58 That is not very helpful to Prevent or Channel Panel at the end of the day, because to be able to make decisions about where this goes next, people need context, they need quality of information. 1:10 I would say share it in the way that you do any safeguarding concerns. 1:13 I mean, take it away from issues of extremism and radicalisation, think about what you'd do if it was a concern around drug and alcohol misuse, or involvement in gang affiliated type behaviour. 1:23 Just treat it as normal safeguarding. So, what would you do in that scenario? 1:25 You'd talk to your line manager. You might seek some outside advice. 1:30 If you've got a concern, refer it in, because you go to the doctor if you feel ill, you don't ask your mate on the bus. 1:38 So, it's always better to talk to someone whose profession that is. 1:42 If you are keeping the concern to yourself, you are placing yourself in a position where you are taking a lot more responsibility for an individual. 1:51 But you are also taking a lot of responsibility, you're keeping the responsibility at your level, whereas you need to share that with your manager or with your supervisor appropriately, because that again offers you a different perspective. 2:02 This is my job, this is my role, it's what I do. 2:04 I've got a grasp of what the risk of the local demographic is, what else is going on that a general professional might not know. 2:14 It's kind of a testing board, a sounding board, a kind of an evaluation against which I confirm my own assessment: 2:22 "Am I right in thinking that this is out of the ordinary?" 2:26 Where I work, we've got an early help hub and teachers phone regularly and say, "look I'm a bit concerned, I saw X, Y and Z. Do you think I should be worried? Should I make a referral? What shall I do with this?" 2:38 The power of talking is huge, the power of relationships is huge. 2:41 It's like everything; when you think about something and you vocalise it to someone else, you go "that was actually really petty". 2:46 Sometimes how you're internalising the threat with your own prejudices, with your own unconscious bias, it'd be very different to how someone else interprets it. 2:57 I have some knowledge to take people in areas that maybe they haven't considered. 3:01 I reassure them that this isn't about criminalising people, it's about supporting people, stopping something happening before they can get into difficulties. 3:10 That conversation allows that to happen, rather than the coldness of an email. 3:14 Emails are very standard, they're very dry, and you don't fill in all the information. 3:18 When you talk you say an awful lot more than you do in an email. 3:23 I would definitely not want to wait, I would definitely suggest that a professional act on their concerns, share that with their supervisor. 3:31 As with every other safeguarding issue, this is about communication, sharing of concern, gathering information and trying to understand what it is that people are observing.

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