What is Prevent?
Prevent is about keeping people and communities safe from the threat of terrorism. It is one part of the government's overall counter-terrorism strategy, CONTEST. The other strands are Pursue, Protect and Prepare.
Prevent is about safeguarding people from being drawn into extremism or radicalisation. The Home Office works with local authorities and a wide range of government departments and community organisations to stop people from supporting or engaging in extremism or 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.
Prevent is concerned with all forms of extremism that could lead to terrorism, including far-right extremism and some aspects of non-violent extremism.
Further information about Prevent can be found in these Home Office factsheets:
Alternatively, please refer to: Prevent duty guidance: England and Wales (2023).
The Prevent team
The Prevent team is based at Hammersmith & Fulham Council, and also works across Kensington and Chelsea Council. The team delivers work including:
- training for frontline staff in recognising, referring and responding to radicalisation
- a variety of projects to build capacity, increase resilience and improve understanding of extremism and radicalisation, with partners such as schools, colleges, frontline staff, community groups, venues and parents
- a referral service for concerns, called Channel, which acts as an early intervention service to safeguard vulnerable individuals from radicalisation.
The team does this work to:
- raise awareness about the dangers of extremism and radicalisation, and the impact on families and communities
- build resilience within local communities
- provide information about what to do if you are concerned about someone who is vulnerable to radicalisation, or you think is being radicalised, and how to access support.
For further information about Prevent and the work done to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism, please contact the Prevent team by emailing prevent@lbhf.gov.uk or calling 020 8753 5727.
Prevent and education
All schools, colleges and childcare providers are subject to a duty under section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015 to have ‘due regard to the need to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism’. This duty, known as the Prevent duty, should be seen as part of schools, colleges and childcare providers’ wider safeguarding obligations.
For support from the Department for Education for those working in education settings with safeguarding responsibilities, please refer to The Prevent duty: safeguarding learners vulnerable to radicalisation.
Prevent Education Officer
The Prevent team includes a Prevent Education Officer, who is at the disposal of all schools, colleges and childcare providers in the boroughs of Hammersmith & Fulham and Kensington and Chelsea, free of charge.
In their efforts to comply with the statutory Prevent duty and meet Ofsted requirements, schools, colleges and childcare providers can utilise the Prevent Education Officer in any of the following ways:
- Workshop to Raise Awareness of Prevent (WRAP) for staff
- Student sessions
- Parent/carer sessions
- Curriculum support
- General support
For more information about Prevent and education, please visit Hammersmith & Fulham’s School staff zone.
What is Channel?
The Prevent team works closely with local police and statutory services to deliver a multi-agency initiative known as Channel. The aim is to support vulnerable individuals at risk of radicalisation and offer guidance and advice to key agencies. Early identification is vital to safeguard the vulnerable individual and prevent them from committing potential criminal acts.
Channel is a confidential, voluntary multi-agency safeguarding programme. It is run in every local authority in England and Wales, and addresses all types of extremism, including Islamist and far-right extremism. It is about early intervention to protect vulnerable children and adults who might be susceptible to being radicalised, which, if left unsupported, could lead to involvement in terrorist-related activity.
Anyone can make a referral to Prevent if they are concerned about someone being radicalised.
The Channel panel – which is chaired by the local authority and made up of representatives from different safeguarding areas, including health, education and the police – will meet once a month to discuss the nature and extent of the potential vulnerability of the individual.
All referrals are carefully assessed. Sometimes the person does not need any help and the referral is closed. In other cases, the panel will offer the individual an appropriate support package tailored to their needs. Support could include assistance with education or employment, health support and ideological mentoring to provide vulnerable individuals with the skills to protect themselves from being drawn into committing terrorist-related activity or supporting terrorism.
Contact Prevent
If you would like further information, have a query or concern, or want to receive Prevent training, please do not hesitate to contact the Prevent team by emailing prevent@lbhf.gov.uk or calling 020 8753 5727.
Make a referral to Prevent
If you are concerned that someone you know is at risk of becoming involved in extremism or terrorism, you can make a referral to Prevent by completing the National Prevent Referral Form linked below. If you have any problems accessing or submitting this form please contact prevent@lbhf.gov.uk
Completed forms should be sent to preventreferrals@met.pnn.police.uk
Prevent referral pathway diagram
This pathway diagram from the Channel and Prevent Multi-Agency Panel (PMAP) guidance explains what happens post-referral.