Children’s Commissioner demands reform of Prevent programme

New analysis by the Children’s Commissioner revealed that seven in ten child referrals to Prevent had no specific extremist ideology identified, and referrals without a clear ideology were less likely to progress through Prevent than those with defined ideology.

The Prevent programme is part of the UK’s counter-terrorism strategy that focuses on preventing people from being drawn into terrorism.

According to the report, referrals to Prevent involving children have risen from 2,918 in 2016-17 to 4,715 in 2024-25 – the highest figure in this period. Last year, 8,778 referrals were made to Prevent in England and Wales, of which more than half (54%) involved children.

Other key findings were as follows:

• Repeated referrals: Some children have been referred to Prevent multiple times. Between April 2016 and March 2025, 91% of children were referred once, and the remaining nine per cent (1,136 children) were referred at least twice. Less than 190 children (approximately 1.5%) were referred three times or more.
• Referrals often closed without support: Nearly four in five referrals involving children (79%) were closed without progressing through the Prevent programme. Almost three in five referrals came from education settings. Of these, at least 65% were referred back to an education setting when the case was closed, 93% of which never progressed through the programme.
• Wider vulnerabilities: Professionals described children being exposed to extremist and violent content online, often without developing a fixed ideological belief. Many children referred were vulnerable to exploitation, bullying or unstable home lives, leading to professionals questioning whether Prevent was the appropriate response.
• The report also found that information on children’s mental health and neurodevelopmental needs was missing from 60% of referrals.
• Where conditions were recorded, autism accounted for 16% of conditions in referrals, whereas the estimated prevalence among all school-aged children is around 3%.

Following the Southport attack, Phase one of the national independent inquiry examined the failure to identify the risk posed by the perpetrator. Phase two is examining what changes are needed across agencies and services to prevent similar atrocities.

Dame Rachel said that identifying children at risk of violence or radicalisation “must remain a priority”, but that children should receive support through the pathway best suited to their individual circumstances.

She also made the following recommendations:

• Better data to understand children’s experiences, including the introduction of a consistent unique childhood identifier, regardless of whether a child comes into contact with social care, to ensure opportunities to share data and information are not lost. The Home Office should also strengthen data collection so children’s journeys through Prevent can be tracked and outcomes better understood.
• The Home Office and Department for Education should issue joint statutory guidance on children who pose a risk to others. This should require that all children where there is a concern that they might commit violence or other forms of harm – because they are violence fixated, drawn into terrorism, or because of concerns about criminality – are referred to the Multi Agency Child Protection team – which should include Counter Terrorism Policing where needed – in the child’s local area. 
• Stronger online protections to address the risk of children being drawn into radicalisation or becoming fixated with violence. The government should restrict technology companies from accessing children until they can prove they have highly effective safeguards to protect children from harm.
• Improved support for children with complex needs including children with neurodevelopmental needs, trauma and other vulnerabilities who may fall between services.

Children’s Commissioner for England, Dame Rachel de Souza said: “The Prevent programme plays an important role in protecting communities and preventing people being drawn into terrorism. It is right that when professionals have concerns about a child’s behaviour, the content they are accessing online or the risks they pose to themselves or others, they act swiftly and decisively.  

“I have long been concerned about the numbers of children being referred to Prevent, but we have to look beyond the increase in referrals to understand the varied reasons children have been referred in the first place. Some may have been exposed to harmful content online, others be vulnerable to exploitation, experience difficulties with their mental health or display concerning behaviours for a range of reasons."

Dame Rachel added: “A referral should be the start of understanding a child’s individual circumstances, not the end of the process. When a child does not progress through Prevent, we must be confident other services are there to understand and meet their needs. Simply returning children to services that made the referral, without a clear understanding of what is driving their behaviour or who will be responsible for meeting their needs, risks missing opportunities to provide the right support children desperately need.”

She said: “We need a stronger safeguarding response particularly for children who are fixated with violence but have no identified extremist ideology. Professionals working with children need the expertise and support to identify children’s needs and behaviours, intervene early and provide appropriate interventions.”

Lottie Winson