Safeguarding arrangements for young and vulnerable people at
risk of radicalisation have not kept pace with changing threats
and increasing demand, a new report from the policing
inspectorate has found.
His Majesty's Inspectorate of Constabulary and Fire & Rescue
Services (HMICFRS) found that while there are examples of
effective practice, the overall safeguarding system does not
operate consistently enough to provide the protection that
vulnerable people and the public require.
This follows an inspection commissioned by the Home Secretary to
look at how police forces, Counter Terrorism Policing (CTP) and
partner organisations safeguard young and
vulnerable people who may be at risk of radicalisation,
exploitation or involvement in terrorism-related activity.
The inspectorate found examples of committed CTP and police force
personnel, but the
number of referrals received by Prevent, which supports and
safeguards people at risk of becoming involved in terrorism, has
increased sharply. Inspectors said this is increasing the
pressure on existing safeguarding arrangements, which have not
kept pace with the changing nature of terrorist threats or the
growing complexity of terrorism-related vulnerability.
Inspectors also found that current arrangements mean that
organisations, including CTP and local policing teams, don't
manage risk collectively, their accountability is unclear and
information isn't exchanged effectively between them.
His Majesty's Inspector of Constabulary Lee Freeman KPM
said:
The UK continues to face a persistent terrorist threat with the
threat level currently at severe, meaning an attack is highly
likely. But the nature of this threat has changed. Young and
vulnerable people are increasingly being exposed to harmful
material online, while the number and complexity of referrals to
Prevent have placed the safeguarding system under considerable
strain.
We found some examples of effective practice and dedicated
personnel across the system, but organisations are not
consistently sharing information or managing risks collectively.
These weaknesses create systemic failure across the whole
safeguarding process, rather than a failure of any single
organisation.
Safeguarding requires a whole-system approach by policing and
partner organisations. Stronger strategic leadership, improved
information sharing, earlier intervention and greater
accountability are needed to keep vulnerable people and the
public safe.
HMICFRS has made 14 recommendations and identified two areas for improvement
to make safeguarding more effective. These include:
- consolidating strategic leadership and co-ordination
arrangements for safeguarding;
- making sure there are enough qualified specialist
intervention providers to meet demand;
- establishing a clear national multi-agency framework for
managing people with non-ideological
vulnerability to terrorism or violence fixation;
- improving information sharing, technology and case
management;
- developing a workforce training needs analysis, including
monitoring training compliance;
- CTP improving the quality of its data, so it can confidently
analyse safeguarding and vulnerability data to understand what
works and where activity could be focussed to achieve better
outcomes; and
- making sure relevant personnel understand the Online Safety
Act 2023 and the new offences it creates.
Notes
- HMICFRS has previously published the terms of reference
for this inspection.
- Some of the inspection findings have not been published for
national security reasons.
