Agenda item

The Committee considered a report of the Corporate Director Neighbourhoods and Climate Change which provided an update on the Safe Durham 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).

Jamie Reilly, Detective Sergeant and Andy Bailey, Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer gave a presentation on the Prevent work that included an update on Counter Terrorism, the Prevent Strategy, partnership working and the Durham Contest Board.

The Detective Sergeant explained that the Terrorism Act 2000 defined terrorism as the use or threat of action designed to influence the government or to intimidate the public for the purpose of advancing a political, religious, racial or ideological cause.   The UK Counter Terrorism Strategy was known as CONTEST and maintained the principles of the 4 Ps - Prevent: Safeguarding people from becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism; Pursue: Stopping terrorist attacks; Protect: Strengthening our protection against terrorist attacks and Prepare: Mitigating the impact of terrorist attacks.  He added that the Prevent Strategy had three strategic objectives – i) respond to the ideological challenge of terrorism and the threat we face from those who promote it; ii) prevent people from being drawn into terrorism and ensure that they are given appropriate advice and support; and iii) work with sectors and institutions where there are risks of radicalisation that we need to address.

The Detective Sergeant clarified that in April 2020 it was proposed that all forces would combine their Special Branch units but due to the pandemic this did not become live until April 2022 that grouped them all together into one new police force.  Although there were teething problems the service delivery remained unchanged.  The Prevent Team works to try to stop people from being drawn into terrorism.  He noted that the word ‘vulnerability’ had changed to ‘susceptibility’ after the review.  There was more partnership working between the police, the local authority, social care and non CT policing.  Work was ongoing to get other organisations on board that included registered childcare and probation.  A Channel Panel had been established which was a monthly meeting that looked at those at risk who had been referred. There was partnership working via the Durham Contest Board that identified children and young people as a number one priority as referrals were getting younger.  Prevent work was ongoing in schools with the first presentation being delivered in Carmel College in Darlington.   This was to be rolled out to year 8 and year 9’s in Durham schools.  He also highlighted that Martyn’s Law was pending that would place a responsibility on local authorities to ensure any place or space to which the public had access to was protected against terrorist threat.

Councillor R Charlton-Lainè explained that she worked in an academy and it was excellent that Prevent work had been carried out in secondary schools.  She queried if the team worked with academies and their designated safeguarding lead (DSL) as she was concerned that the system could fail these young people if they did not.

The Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer responded that Kirsty Wilkinson was the Chair of the safeguarding lead meeting. He advised that all school DSLs were invited to this meeting which addressed any highlighted risks or issues within schools, promoted the prevent work and offered training events including ‘train the trainer’ sessions that had led to 40 to 50 trainers being trained.  He recommended that she should contact the team if she felt her academy had not been included.  He was happy to deliver Prevent training within her academy if required but did mention that every school should carry out a risk assessment as part of Ofsted/government requirements.  He stressed that if a referral was made to the Channel Panel about a child the DSL from the school would also be invited.  He emphasised that academies would receive the same service as any other school.

The Detective Sergeant reiterated that Ofsted required Prevent assessments to be carried out on school buildings.  He advised that training was also available for governing bodies through the Cohesion team. 

The Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer responded to Councillor R Charlton-Lainè that the Detective Sergeant lead on presentations given to schools supported by DSLs.  Governors were also included in these presentations.

Councillor D Sutton-Lloyd thought that it was a very good presentation that had a suitable blanket approach. He asked that given the potential escalation of a threat how quickly would the team react and was there anything that Members could do to help.

The Detective Sergeant stressed that early reporting to the police was key as they were the gateway to the service.  He advised that as a local member they should not sit on anything that they thought was suspicious.  Within Durham there was a low level of risk compared to a metropolitan area but if in doubt they should act.  It was not the intention to label anyone as a terrorist but it was better to make an early referral to ensure the right people had their eyes on the situation.  Everyone needed the confidence to pick up the phone. This message would be promoted through their Prevent winter campaign.

Councillor L Fenwick observed that throughout the presentation it was deemed that most of the information was reported through the education system for children and young people.  She was concerned that there were 125,000 young people who were home schooled.  She asked for reassurance that these children were being monitored and safeguarded against.

The Detective Sergeant confirmed that public messages were put out through the police that were tailored to the community at large.  He did hope that every parent provided a safe home and monitored what their children did online as they were at risk every time they did.  Advertisements publicised the importance for parents to check what their children looked at online but there were no guarantees parents saw them or acted upon this guidance making the system flawed.  Covid and lockdown had not helped.  He had found that parents of vulnerable children who had been referred to the Channel Panel were shocked when they found out what their children had looked at online.

The Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer mentioned that the Police were representatives of the Channel Panel and worked with parents if a referral about a child had been made. 

The Detective Sergeant informed the committee that a virtual reality video had been produced that showed a young person being arrested that highlighted each stage of the process that ended with them being in the custody suite.  This had been shown to young people to shock them into what could happen if they went down certain routes.  A strategy was ongoing to push this to all children being home schooled but it would still fall to the responsible adult in the home to ensure the safety of that child when online.  The system was not perfect and there was still a lot of work to do.  He had seen family members making referrals who had concerns and a self-referral had also been made.

The Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer advised that information was provided to the voluntary sector and any organisations that worked with children and young people outside the school setting and was promoted at community events in order to target as many people as possible that might identify any issues.

The Detective Sergeant stressed that it was not just the parents that were targeted with the message but anyone that might see a child who may be worried that something was not right.

Councillor J Charlton queried if they expected a spike amongst university and college students who may be emotional and vulnerable with the current climate.

The Detective Sergeant replied that the team tried to work where they could with universities and colleges.  He expected vocal support when there were worldwide conflicts and had seen a lot of support for Palestinian people at present.  He had expected more referrals but this had not been shown.  Work was ongoing to try to ensure that people did not commit any offence that had started by briefing children and young people in schools but it was difficult to tell a fourteen-year-old not to do something.

Councillor R Crute notified the committee that work had been carried out within the Children and Young People’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee on home education and although it had focussed on education it had included safeguarding. 

The Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer were open to training parents at home or at school with online sessions available.

Councillor Crute acknowledged that there was still work to do but was concerned that people might not know about the work and the positive partnership working that was exclusive to public sectors.  He was worried that the squeeze on resources and budgets would hinder the capacity to continue the work going forward.

The Detective Sergeant reinforced that the programme was a statutory requirement with investment from the government.  He appreciated that the police were under scrutiny with budgets and resources as was the Counter Terrorism team but he was confident that Prevent was here to stay. He thought that as the message was spread further the easier things would become but he was conscious that some would fall through the net.  He emphasised that Prevent needed to be talked about openly in schools so things could be dealt with swiftly and robustly every time.  He noted that there was a high demand but the team coped with the work.

The Detective Sergeant highlighted that terrorism had been around for hundreds of years but now it was becoming common place.  He showed that it was becoming part of the education programme whereas it would not have been discussed in schools ten years ago.

Councillor R Crute was pleased that it was now being discussed in schools.  It was an issue that there was pressure on resources but he was comforted by the presentation. 

Councillor V Andrews queried whether there was a correlation between areas of high deprivation and the risk of susceptibility in children and young people.

The Detective Sergeant confirmed that there was a correlation and areas of high deprivation were targeted to reinforce the Prevent work.  This included providing training and presentations in schools.

The Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer added that adults in areas of high deprivation were also susceptible due to financial stress with the rise of the cost of living.

Councillor C Lines was concerned with the amount of people who were significantly consumed with social media and how they could potentially be manipulated into being shown things without going onto the dark web. 

The Detective Sergeant confirmed that work was ongoing both locally, regionally and nationally through the Home Office to look at those who were a high risk online. Year 8 students were encouraged to double check facts that were presented to them if they were unsure to prevent them from getting into trouble.  

The Partnerships Team Leader and Prevent Support Officer noted that there were also challenges with adults especially with conspiracy theories. 

Resolved:

That the report and presentation be noted.