Liverpool Safeguarding Children Partnership Procedures

Radicalisation, Terrorist and Extremist Ideology

Scope of this chapter

Prevent is one of the four strands of the UK Government’s Counter-Terrorist Strategy known as ‘CONTEST’, Prevent has three objectives, to tackle the ideological causes of terrorism, intervene early to support those susceptible to being drawn into terrorism and enable people who have already engaged, to disengage and rehabilitate .

Education and Ofsted inspected settings in England and Wales along with Police, Prisons, Health & Local Authorities must have due regard to the Prevent Duty in the exercise of their functions as outlined under section 29 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act (CTSA) 2015.

The CTSA 2015 sets out a duty on all local authorities to ensure that there is a local Channel Panel in place to provide bespoke support to those susceptible to being drawn into terrorism. Channel remains a cornerstone of the Prevent strategy by providing early intervention and support to those who meet the criteria for support.

National learning has highlighted the importance of co-operating with the Channel processes to reduce the risk of people being radicalised or supporting terrorism. All partners attending a Channel panel, must, as far as is appropriate and reasonably practicable, co-operate with the police and the direction of the Channel panel.

Amendment

This chapter was refreshed in February 2025.

February 24, 2025

1. Definition

Radicalisation is a process in which an individual or a group, embraces a radical ideology or belief that accepts, uses or condones violence, including acts of terrorism, to reach a specific political or ideological purpose.

Terrorism is an action that endangers or causes serious violence to a person/people; causes serious damage to property; or seriously interferes or disrupts an electronic system. The use or threat must be designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public and is made for the purpose of advancing a political, religious racial or ideological cause.

Extremism is the promotion or advancement of an ideology based on violence, hatred or intolerance, that aims to:

Negate or destroy the fundamental rights and freedoms of others; or
Undermine, overturn or replace the UK’s system of liberal parliamentary democracy and democratic rights; or
Intentionally create a permissive environment for others to achieve the results in 1 or 2.

Since the publication of the Prevent strategy, there has been an awareness of the specific need to safeguard children, young people and families from radicalisation and extremist ideology.

Keeping children safe from these risks is a safeguarding matter and should be approached in the same way as safeguarding children from other forms of harm.

2. Understanding and Recognising Risks and Susceptibility to Radicalisation and Extremism

Radicalisation is a process rather than an event, and there is no single profile or pathway by which an individual can be drawn into violence or exposed to extremist messages. Some people may be influenced by family members or friends and/or direct contact with extremist groups or organisations. Others may view online content, in particular social media, that can normalise radical views or promote violent extremism.

In all cases, professionals should ensure that judgements consider individual circumstances and place the behaviour of an individual in their whole family and social context.

2.1 Vulnerabilities

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

There are many factors which, either alone or combined with other vulnerabilities, can increase an individual’s risk of being radicalised. These can include, but are not limited to:

Identity Crisis - Feeling a sense of grievance, injustice or being under threat;
Personal Crisis - Having a need to find an identity, belonging, status or excitement;
Personal Circumstances – Transitional period in a person’s life discrimination or aspects of Government policy; experience of care (previous looked after child);
Unmet aspirations - Low self-esteem Criminality - Being secretive about social networking contacts.

2.2 Indicators

Indicators that an individual may be experiencing or at risk of radicalisation can include, but are not limited to:

General changes of mood, patterns of behaviour, secrecy;
Changes of friends and mode of dress;
Use of inappropriate language;
Spending an increased amount of time online;
Possession of violent extremist literature;
The expression of extremist views;
Advocating violent actions and means;
Association with known extremists;
Seeking to recruit others to an extremist ideology.

A common feature of radicalisation is that the individual often does not recognise the exploitative nature of what is happening and does not see themselves as a victim.

3. Protection and Action to be Taken

Any practitioner identifying concerns about a child or young person should share their concerns with their supervisor or designated safeguarding lead (DSL) DSLs should exercise their professional judgment about whether a Prevent referral for that individual is appropriate or should the individual be signposted to other services for support. Also see: Get Help for Radicalisation Concerns (GOV.UK).

If someone is at immediate risk of harm due to radicalisation or violent extremism, or if you believe that a terrorist act is being committed or planned, alert the police using 999.

If it may be that a Prevent referral is more appropriate and referral should be made in accordance with the local Prevent referral pathway.

Safeguarding people from radicalisation and extremism requires careful assessment and collaborative working across agencies. Initial information may be inconclusive, and the most appropriate action can be dependent on a wide range of factors.

Extremist groups may make use of the internet to radicalise, recruit and promote extremist materials. Online material which promotes extremism, such as illegal or harmful videos and images, can be reported online to the government.

See: Report online material promoting terrorism of extremism (GOV.UK).

4. Prevent, the Prevent Duty and Channel

4.1 Prevent

‘Prevent’ is one of the four pillars of the UK government’s counter terrorism strategy, CONTEST.

Prevent – to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism;
Pursue – to stop terrorist attacks;
Protect – to strengthen our protection against a terrorist attack; and
Prepare – to mitigate the impact of a terrorist attack.

‘Prevent’ has three main objectives:

Tackle the ideological causes of terrorism;
Intervene early to support people susceptible to radicalisation;
Enable individuals who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate.

4.2 The Prevent Duty

Under Section 26 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, specified authorities must, in the exercise of their normal functions, have due regard to the need to prevent individuals of any age from being drawn into terrorism. This includes becoming a terrorist or supporting terrorism. The specified authorities to whom the Prevent duty applies are:

Local authorities;
Education;
Healthcare;
Police;
Criminal justice agencies (prisons and probation).

Prevent Duty Guidance: Guidance for Specified Authorities in England and Wales (GOV.UK) - is the statutory guidance that sets out the expectations for each specified authority and the ways in which it should comply with the Prevent duty.

Police will evaluate all Prevent referrals and, if they deem that the referral reaches the appropriate threshold for support, they will ask for that case to be discussed by the local Channel Panel (see below).

4.3 Channel Panel

Under Section 36 of the Counter-Terrorism and Security Act 2015, as part of the UK Government’s Prevent strategy, each local authority has a duty to ensure there is a local Channel Panel in place.

Where the police assess that there is a risk of radicalisation, a Channel panel will meet to discuss the referral, assess the risk and decide whether the person should be accepted into Channel. Once accepted, the panel agree a tailored package of support to be offered to the person.

The Channel Panel is a multi-agency panel chaired by the local authority that must include the police and other relevant local partner agencies. It can be a single area panel or a combined panel with other local authorities.

The role of the Channel Panel is to ensure that anyone at risk of radicalisation receives the necessary bespoke support required to help mitigate the risks to the individual or the public.

The Children Act 1989 promotes the view that all children and their parents should be considered as individuals and that family structures, culture, religion, ethnic origins, and other characteristics should be respected. When providing support to an individual on the Channel programme, local authorities and their partners should consider how best to align assessments under the Children Act 1989 to safeguard and promote the welfare of the child. Links should be established between Channel panels and other statutory partners, including safeguarding partners and YOTs.

The following are a few examples of possible support responses:

Intervention providers;
Mentoring;
Diversionary activities;
Access to specific services, such as health or education.

Multi-agency involvement in Channel is essential to ensure the full range of information is accessible to the panel, so that susceptibility, vulnerabilities, risk and support needs can be fully assessed.

Each agency is responsible for implementing any actions allocated to them by the Channel Chair.

The effectiveness of any responses should be regularly reviewed and updated to reflect any change in the level of risk.

In carrying out their role, the Channel Panel must have regard to the Channel Duty Guidance: Protecting People Susceptible to Radicalisation (GOV.UK).

The Channel process is a voluntary process. If an individual is over the age of 18, it can only take place if they give their informed consent (or in their best interests if they lack capacity to consent). Where the individual is under 18, consent must be sought from a parent or legal guardian. In all cases, informed consent should be obtained at the earliest opportunity.

5. Training and Awareness

All professionals and staff who engage with the public should:

Understand what radicalisation means and why individuals may be susceptible to being drawn into terrorism;
Be aware of what is meant by the term 'extremism' and the difference between extremism and terrorism;
Know what support is available to help prevent individuals from being drawn into terrorism
Understand how to obtain support for individuals who they believe may be falling under radicalising influences.

There is a range of Home Office, online training available.

For further information, or to access the training courses see: Prevent duty training (GOV.UK).

Note: The Home Office can provide additional training to Channel Panel Chairs, Deputy Chairs and Panel members.

NHS staff should also use the NHS Prevent training and competencies framework (GOV.UK).