Agenda item

      i.         Report of Corporate Director of Resources

     ii.         Presentation of Detective Sergeant, Durham Constabulary Special Branch - Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer, DCC

The Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director Resources and presentation of Detective Sergeant Rielly, Durham Constabulary and A Bailey, Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer, DCC which provided an overview of the Partnership’s progress in meeting the statutory duties contained within the Counter Terrorism and Security Act 2015 and an update on partnership working (for copy see file of Minutes).

The presentation delivered by Detective Sergeant Reilly provided an overview of the definition of Terrorism within the Terrorism Act 2000, including how the UK Counter Terrorism Strategy known as CONTEST aimed to reduce the risk to the UK and its interests overseas from terrorism. In addition, the Prevent Strategy 2011 aimed to reduce the threat to the UK from terrorism by stopping people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism, noting that the delivery of Prevent was grounded in early intervention and safeguarding.

The presentation highlighted how partnership working through the  ‘Channel Panel’ formed a key part of Prevent and adopted a multi-agency approach to identify and support individuals who were vulnerable to being drawn into terrorism. He explained that there were two Channel Panels in the Durham Constabulary area and in Durham the panel was chaired by the Head of Adult Care.

In addition to the above it was explained that further partnership working was undertaken through the Silver Contest Board which was in place to assist partners to implement the Prevent Duty, maintain oversight of the Extremism agenda and deliver the Strategic Delivery Plan. In addition, it supported the Channel program, received, and reviewed intelligence, engaged in commissioning processes and initiated activity to address key points contained in the CTLP.

Detective Sergeant Rielly provided further detail regarding the UK Terrorism Threat Level and UK Terrorism Statistics.

A Bailey, Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer then went on to detail the role of Durham County Council and the partnership work the team were involved in.

Councillor Boyes commented that he understood that younger vulnerable people were at risk of being drawn into terrorism and was pleased to hear that there was a focus on young people and that further education partners were on board. He also noted that he was aware that the biggest risk in County Durham came from far-right organisations.

Detective Sergeant Rielly agreed that far-right extremism was the predominant concern in County Durham and prevent-based training tailored to fit with the demographic was crucial, especially in schools. He explained that during the early stages of the COVID pandemic an online session had been held, which had been attended by over 100 schools and was to be held again this coming Summer as it had proved so successful.

Councillor Miller asked if there was a reason why the Fire Service were not represented on the Channel Panel. In response it was explained that the fire service did attend meetings on an ad-hoc basis but did provide engagement in respect of work undertaken with the Silver Contest Group. Chief Fire Officer S Errington, County Durham and Darlington Fire & Rescue Service confirmed that the he was comfortable with the existing arrangements and it worked well under the current arrangements.

Councillor Sutton-Lloyd asked if there was anything that could be done to help get advice and messages out into the community. A Bailey, Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer advised that he was the point of contact for training and he would be willing to offer free Prevent training for those third sector organisations.

In conclusion Detective Sergeant Rielly noted that in this area of work you could never become complacent, he expected that teams working in counterterrorism would continue to grow, with further funding to support their work as education was key to ensuring that the issue was being talked about, recognised and the campaigns currently running were excellent for highlighting these messages in the community.

Resolved: That the content of the report and presentation be noted.