The Committee noted that in 2015, the Government’s Counter-Terrorism and Security Act introduced a duty on councils to prevent people from being drawn into terrorism or violent extremism.  Right-wing or left-wing, religious or secular, nationalist or internationalist, all forms of terrorism or violent extremism come under the ‘Prevent Duty’ as they all seek to challenge our way of life and undermine cohesion in our communities.

Tower Hamlets it was noted was a priority area under the duty and hence why on behalf of local residents, it was important to understand what the Council and its partners are doing to deter people away from terrorism and violent extremism. The Council has strong reputation for its work in this area, particularly in the way it has embedded the required safeguarding mechanism under the duty into its existing safeguarding arrangements.

This report makes 13 recommendations on how the Council and our partners can add value to what is already happening under the ‘Prevent Duty’. Our recommendations cover three themes of:

1.    Safeguarding young people;

2.    Promoting cohesion in Tower Hamlets; and

3.    Developing leadership around Prevent.

These recommendations had been developed following discussions over five sessions. Three additional co-opted members, Sarah Castro, Rob Faure-Walker and Dr Farid Panjwani, participated in the review bringing their academic knowledge, hands on experience of working with communities on cohesion and understanding of the impact of counter-terrorism policies on communities to the discussions.

The main point of the discussion maybe summarised as follows:

The Committee:

·         Noted how the Prevent programme has been developed to address the challenges facing our society e.g. How to constructively channel the anger and discontent that some feel about the society in which they live;

·         Agreed that consideration needs to be given to looking at the layers of identity within communities and what it means to be British in the 21st Century; recognising the contribution made to our society by all the communities that make up modern Britain;

·         Noted there needs to be a holistic examination of the pathways people take to extremism and that this needs to be considered across the local partnerships and within the Council;

·         Agreed that how the issue of extremism is debated (Inc through the media) and discussed needs to be considered within the context of all communities; faiths and ideologies and not focus just on our young people; group or community so as to address racism and hate crime;

·         Noted that Home Office is enabling LBTH and its partners to safeguard the local communities both young and old from all forms of extremism;

·         Agreed that young people need to see that they have a voice in this process and that their views are valued and contributions welcomed;

·         Agreed on the need to address how to manage the social media in terms of both its positive and negatives uses e.g. Need to develop a narrative around this; provide help and support to families; citizenship and address online grooming; provide training and support for schools governing bodies and those responsible  ...  view the full minutes text for item 11