Home Office written statement – made at on 20 February 2024.
The government is today publishing a progress report on our implementation of the Independent Review of Prevent recommendations.
Prevent is a fundamental part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy, known as CONTEST. Prevent aims to stop people becoming terrorists or supporting terrorism. It does this by tackling the ideological causes of terrorism, intervening early to support those susceptible to radicalisation, and enabling people who have already engaged in terrorism to disengage and rehabilitate.
The Independent Review of Prevent, published on 8 February 2023, was conducted by Sir William Shawcross. It made 34 recommendations, which the government accepted. In the government response, published on the same day, we set out how we would implement the recommendations. We committed to delivering a renewed Prevent capability, which holds the mission of tackling terrorist ideologies at its core and responds confidently to emerging threats facing the UK.
In the 12 months since the publication of the Independent Review, we have made significant progress with 30 of the 34 recommendations completed in full, and 115 of the 120 sub-actions delivered.
We have delivered a number of key changes, as part of a broader programme to strengthen and reorient Prevent, that include:
A significant change programme has already been implemented, but there is still more to do to ensure change is firmly embedded across government and frontline sectors. We will continue to work at pace to implement the remaining 4 recommendations and 5 sub-actions.
Additionally, we will monitor the implementation of the recommendations to ensure that Prevent continues to hold itself to the high standards we have committed to, and remains agile in responding to the ever-changing threat picture in the UK.
A copy of the progress report will be placed in the Libraries of both Houses and published on GOV.UK.