Paul Goodman (- Shadow Minister, Communities and Local Government; Wycombe, Conservative)

To ask the Secretary of State for the Home Department what policy his Department has adopted to prevent (a) violent extremism, (b) extremism claimed to be perpetrated in the name of Islam, (c) extremism perpetrated in the name of neo-nazi and fascist causes and (d) extremism claimed by others; and if he will make a statement.

David Hanson (Minister of State (Crime and Policing), Home Office; Delyn, Labour)

holding answer 15 October 2009

The Government, the police and other agencies assess the threat from various forms of extremism on a regular basis. Government take all threats to the security of our communities very seriously and are undertaking a wide variety of programmes to address and reduce the threat.

Local threat assessments are not published publicly but are produced so that local partners including local authorities and police forces are able to make decisions and allocate resources according to local situations.

The Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre (JTAC) assess the threat to the UK from international terrorism and that is currently assessed to be at substantial, meaning that the threat of a terrorist attack remains a strong possibility and may occur without warning.