Agenda item

The Chair introduced Detective Inspector, Melvin Sutherland Durham Constabulary who was also the Counter Terrorism Prevent Supervisor.  He was in attendance to provide Members with a presentation to provide an update of the partnership’s progress in meeting statutory duties contained within the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 and an update on partnership working.

There were four elements to counter terrorism:

·        Pursue – to stop terrorist attacks

·        Prevent - to stop people becoming or supporting violent extremists

·        Prepare – to mitigate the impact if an attack cannot be stopped

·        Protect – to strengthen the overall protection against terrorist attacks

The Detective Inspector, Durham Constabulary informed the Committee that the UK threat level from terrorism had been reduced to substantial, meaning an attack was likely.  He also informed the committee that a nation review of Prevent was being undertaken and a new chair was being recruited to take the work forward.

On a regional level the Detective Inspector, Durham Constabulary noted that a Prevent forum existed for elected members and officers where key speakers and learning of good practice was shared.   Signs and symbols on the internet or graffiti were looked for that may also gauge where community tensions may exist and from where action may be taken.

The Detective Inspector, Durham Constabulary notified the Committee that there was a Local Counter Terrorism Network  between the police and other organisations like the British Army, private organisations and the Council who acted as champions to assist with intelligence and serve as eyes and ears on the streets to identify threats. He added that there were currently 80 champions who were updated with refresher packs to keep them well informed.

The Strategic Manager - Partnerships highlighted that Prevent had been included as a topic area in events for Safeguarding Week held in November 2019 where staff who attended were given information and they learned what signs to look out for.  She noted that the Home Office had produced an eLearning package for members of the public to ensure they were aware of what to look out for to spot the signs of suspicious behaviour and understand what to do in the event of a major incident, which she agreed to circulate the link for.  She added that the Home Office had also produced a self-assessment under the security act that comprised of 10 bench markers that included local ones that had been delivered over the last few months. 

The Detective Inspector, Durham Constabulary explained that a Community Cohesion toolkit had been created that linked in with the Area Action Partnerships to monitor any rise in community tensions.  He noted that resources could then be put in place in an area if tensions were detected.  He added that the toolkit was available on the intranet. 

He added that although referrals for Prevent and the multi-agency Channel support programme had increased, the threats had been stable but people's vulnerability through loneliness could also draw them into terrorism online.

Councillor Wilkes wanted to know if the referrals were all located in the same geographical area in County Durham. 

The Detective Inspector, Durham Constabulary replied that the referrals were spread evenly but there were less in Darlington than Durham.  He noted that there was more of an online presence rather than a physical presence as the number of marches had declined but younger children were vulnerable to being targeted and radicalised online.

The Chief Fire Officer wanted to know if the referrals were right wing and whether there had been a decrease due to Brexit.

The Detective Inspector, Durham Constabulary responded that there had been an increase in referrals relating to Brexit but they had been dealt with at an early stage. He noticed that online activity had reduced around the time of the general election in December which may indicate that this was because people felt that they had a voice through their vote.

Resolved

That the report be noted.