Prevent

What is Prevent?

Prevent is about Safeguarding and supporting those who are vulnerable to radicalisation. It is one of the four elements of CONTEST, the governments counter terrorism strategy. It aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism.

Prevent responds to the ideological challenge that we face from terrorism and aspects of extremism, and the threats that we face from those who promote these views. It provides practical help to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensures that they are given appropriate advice and support. Prevent works with a wide range of sectors (including education, criminal justice, faith, charities and health) where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to deal with.

The Home Office works with local authorities, government departments and community organisations to deliver the Prevent Strategy. The police also play a significant role in Prevent, the same way that they do when taking a preventative approach to other crimes.

Prevent uses a range of measures to challenge extremism including:

Supporting those who are at risk of being drawn into terrorist or extremist activity through the Channel process
Working with and supporting community groups who provide services to vulnerable people and supporting schools, local industry and other agencies through engagement, advice and training
Working with faith groups and institutions to assist them in providing support for people who may be vulnerable.

At the heart of Prevent is safeguarding children and adults and providing early intervention to protect and divert people away from being drawn into terrorist activity.

If you are not sure whether you should make a referral you can speak to the Prevent team or call the GMP Prevent Team on 0161 856 6362. There are no daft questions and we are happy to talk things through with you. If you wish to fill out the form online, you can do so here:

Make a Prevent referral

Channel - what is it and how it supports Prevent

All referrals are carefully assessed by the police and the Channel Team to see if they are suitable for Channel or may require another intervention. If suitable, the case is discussed with all relevant partners at a Channel panel to decide what support, if any, is needed. Referred individuals are informed and must give consent (or via a parent or guardian if they are children) before an intervention can take place.

Since April 2019 the Channel Process in Greater Manchester has been coordinated by Local Authority staff and not GMP officers. This work is done by the GM Channel team. This team coordinate all Channel Panels across the 10 Greater Manchester local Authorities. They do the pre-panel work, go out and speak with the individuals and parents/carers and then case manage the interventions offered by the Channel panels. The team are available on 0161 227 3545 (Monday to Friday, 9am-5pm) for advice around referrals or concerns.

The Channel panel is chaired by the local authority and works with multi‐agency partners to collectively assess the risk to an individual and decide whether an intervention is necessary. If a Channel intervention is required, the panel works with local partners to develop an appropriate tailored support package. The support package is monitored closely and reviewed regularly by the Channel panel.

The Channel panel is chaired by the local authority and can include a variety of statutory partners such as the police, children's services, social services, education professionals and mental health care professionals.

Escalating concerns?

If you believe that someone is vulnerable to being exploited or radicalised, please follow the established safeguarding procedures to escalate concerns to the appropriate people in your organisation who can refer concerns to Channel if appropriate.

As stated above, if you have a concern that regards a family member, you can refer them into Prevent. In addition to this, you may want to visit the website ACT Early - Prevent radicalisation which is aimed at family and friends of those who are worried about family members being radicalised.

Venue hire

Guidance has been introduced, including a Prevent checklist, to outline steps that can be taken to avoid allowing extremists to have a platform to spread messages of hate and division through the hire of buildings and venues. Please visit Prevent - Venue hire guidance.

Prevent newsletters

A regular series of newsletters providing information and guidance in relation to Prevent. Please visit Prevent newsletters.

Training and further information

Working to Raise Awareness of Prevent training

The following training is available as part of the Home Office priority cluster arrangement for Bury. Additional resources have been allocated to provide our staff, communities and partners with the knowledge, confidence and support to safeguard some of the most vulnerable members of our communities.

The next online Working to Raise Awareness of Prevent training sessions on Teams are:

11 April - 6-7pm
18 July - 6-7pm
17 October - 6-7pm

To book a place, please contact prevent@bury.gov.uk

Home Office Prevent assets

A collect of posters, graphics and videos can be found at Home Office - Prevent assets.

ACT Early

Counter Terrorism Policing’s Act Early campaign provides practical advice on spotting the signs for radicalisation (whereas this toolkit focuses on Prevent processes and building understanding of how Prevent works)

The Act Early ‘Real Stories’ Toolkit includes powerful case studies that brings to live the powerful words of individuals who turned their lives around after being drawn into radicalisation
The Act Early Campaign Partners toolkit includes assets to encourage friends and family to act early and share their concerns if they know a friend or loved one might be susceptible to radicalisation.

If you’re worried about someone, call the ACT Early Support Line on 0800 011 3764, in confidence, to share your concerns with specially trained officers.