Meeting documents

The Cabinet is asked to NOTE the actions taken to date to meet the Prevent Duty and the proposed next steps.

Mr G Williams, Cabinet for Community Engagement and Public Health, reported that Prevent Duty had been before the Transport, Environment and Communities (TEC) Select Committee and highlighted the following key points:

• The Authority had a legal duty to prevent people being drawn into terrorism. 
• The Authority was responsible for assessing risk, creating an action plan and setting up a Channel Panel to deal with referrals for individuals at risk of radicalisation. 
• Funding had been received from the Home Office for a Prevent Co-ordinator and a Prevent Education Officer.  These positions had transferred from Wycombe District Council to the County Council. 
• Internal monitoring had been improved.
• Training was essential and had been provided to a number of organisations and providers.  As of 31March 2019, 82% of the BCC workforce had undertaken Prevent training including through ELearning.
• There had been threats nationally to schools and a process for responding to any such concerns locally had been developed and launched.
• Guidance was issued to users of council-owned premises.
• Referrals were continuing to be made to the Channel Panel.
• A new counter-terrorism strategy was published in 2018; A review of Prevent had received Royal Assent in February 2019 with an expectation of commencing within six months.

The priorities for coming year included:

• To establish a Prevent Board under the new Buckinghamshire Council.
• To assess performance against the prevent tool kit.
• To examine best practice from other authorities.
• Training and developing resources for employees.
• Member involvement.
• Community roundtables to discuss the broader remit of community safeguarding; an event would be held in Aylesbury in July 2019.

Following the report Cabinet raised and discussed the following points:

• The Chairman stated that the Prevent Duty programme was targeted against far right extremism as well as other threats. 
• Lin Hazell praised the work undertaken by the officers concerned.
• Mr Chilver commented that paragraph 9 stated that Wycombe District Council’s Prevent Board had delivered a co-ordinated approach with partners and asked how the approach would continue.  Mrs Sarchet explained that many of the people involved attended the same meetings and the action plan work was still being carried out.  There would be another forum to keep the actions open and work closely with the district councils and schools.  The Community Safety Partnership also had oversight of the work.
• Mr Chilver asked what form the three community roundtables would take.  Mrs Sarchet stated these were a condition of grant and would include other community safety/safeguarding topics too.  Looking forwards there would be consideration of how to continue to engage communities on these issues including through the Communities Boards proposed for the new Buckinghamshire Council.
• Local members would be invited to attend the community roundtables along with a representative from their local community; a roundtable was being held in July 2019. 
• The Home Office was keen to hold a member development session later in 2019. 
• Prevent Duty would be included in the new member induction programme for the new Buckinghamshire Council.
• Mrs Shimmin added that there had been a very determined focus on Prevent in the County Council for many years and thanked Mrs Sarchet, her team, colleagues in the district councils, schools and the voluntary sector for their hard work and determined effort to ensure people were not radicalised. 

RESOLVED:  Cabinet NOTED the actions taken to date to meet the Prevent Duty and the proposed next steps.